


The Fall of a Luthor

by 18lzytwner



Series: Supergirl Second Series [3]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 28,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25002436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/18lzytwner/pseuds/18lzytwner
Summary: Takes place post Crisis but prior to the Supergirl finale.  Kind of a crossover with Batwoman.  Lex has his plan of action and will do anything to see it through but can he stop Leviathan and the Super Friends?  Especially when they have help from a familiar face?  Or will the Super Friends be unable to stop what is already in motion?  Third in new series.  Alex/Kelly & Brainy/Nia
Relationships: Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, J'onn J'onzz/M'gann M'orzz, Querl Dox/Nia Nal
Series: Supergirl Second Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1245404
Comments: 53
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

Kara paced around her apartment. The Crisis was over, but more problems had spawned from it. Oliver had sacrificed himself to save the multiverse. His brave actions had created what had been lost but not in the same way they had been before. No longer where there multiple Earths. Now there was only one and while that was a blessing – being on the same Earth as her other hero friends – it had come at a terrible price. Oliver was dead, leaving behind his family and Lex Luthor was alive. The Monitor had resurrected the evil man to help in the fight against the Anti-Monitor and now he was ruining everything.

Not only had Lex been reborn, he'd been born as a good person. Well his outside persona at least. Apparently on other Earths, Lex had been a good man. Now those good images were in the main collective memory of the people of the planet, not the megalomaniac that he truly was. Not only had his ownership of the DEO caused Alex to quit, it had caused a large rift between Nia and Brainy. The latter's behavior had been off as of late and no one knew what he was up to – hence the pacing.

The DEO had collapsed – literally just that afternoon. The building had fallen down thanks to Rama Khan. The ancient being was part of the secret organization which had been trying to rid the Earth of not only herself but the other heroes. Lex had seemingly been helping them but the full depths of what the Luthor brother was up to were not known. Trying to collect her thoughts and get them into something that looked like order, the blonde heaved a sigh and stopped pacing for a moment. Ordinarily, she would have reached out to Alex but it was late and the redhead needed any sleep she could get. There was a sense that tomorrow would be worse than today had been.

There was a knock on the door and the blonde quickly x-rayed it. A smile crossed her face as she went to the door and opened it. There stood one of her newest friends, Kate Kane, also known as Batwoman. Before the brunette could say anything, Kara pulled her into the apartment, and closed the door.

"Kate! I hope everything is ok," it was not a short trip to National City from Gotham.

"Yeah it's not. I needed to talk to you about something. Something that couldn't really be talked about over the phone…" Kate admitted. The blonde ushered her to the couch and offered her a drink, which the brunette gladly took.

"What's going on?" Kara wanted to know.

"So both my Dad and my sister are trying to kill me. Well Alice is definitely trying to kill both versions of me, Dad… well he's gone off the deep end and my alter ego is on the top of his list," her new friend explained.

"No hope for sister anymore?" Kara asked.

"No. She killed Mouse. Luke sent me a text while I was flying here, that his body was found by the GCPD. Mouse meant everything to her and now he's dead. I'm next on that list and since she knows my secret, she's probably going to try to do it while I'm in my suit. That suit was the only thing that saved my life the other night when my Dad and the Crows opened fire on me. Let me just say, a fifty caliber bullet to the chest hurts," Kate said.

"How did you survive? Why was your Dad shooting at you? He doesn't know it was you does he?" The blonde guessed.

"The suit is made from this amazing material that would only let one thing on the planet penetrate it – Kryptonite. And no, my Dad doesn't know it's me," her friend explained before quickly explaining that Alice knew the secret from the diary that Luke's father had kept.

"So it was made so that Clark could never hurt your cousin," Kara said.

"Basically and since no regular human would know what Kryptonite was, I should have been in the clear but…" Kate heaved a sigh.

"But now you have a piece and if Alice finds it…" the blonde heaved her own sigh and nodded.

"Yeah. It may be best if I go underground for a while. If I stay low, then Alice will spend all her time looking for me, which hopefully will keep everyone else safe," Kate wondered.

"Wouldn't Alice just go after Luke or your father? Couldn't they get hurt?" Kara asked.

"Yes but if I stay near them, they could still end up in the crosshairs. Before I do anything though, I wanted your permission to destroy that green rock I have. Turns out its poison for both of us," the brunette said.

"You do what you have to do. You didn't need to ask my permission, though I am glad that you came to me," the blonde smiled.

"But if I destroy it, then that's it," Kate really didn't want to broach the subject of maybe one day needing to use the Kryptonite on her new friend.

"Well the DEO had more. I imagine they are trying to figure out if there is any left after what happened today," Kara admitted.

"Wait, your own people had some? What do happened today? Is it about that building collapse on the news?" Kate asked. The blonde quickly explained all that had been going on and how the DEO had become Lex's plaything.

"I really want to beat that guy senseless," the brunette was getting angry.

"You're not the only one but until we know what he's up to with Leviathan, I can't touch him," Kara said.

"Maybe there is a way to solve our problems. If the world sees me working with Supergirl…" Kate smirked.

"Then maybe your Dad would back off? I'd be happy to make an appearance in Gotham if need be," the blonde smiled.

"Good thing I have my suit with me then. Having a private jet does have its perks," the brunette chuckled.

"You have a private jet?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"It was one thing that Wayne Enterprises couldn't lose when Bruce disappeared. See Bruce purchased the jet outright and it was left as part of his estate, separate from the company. He put my name on the list of authorized users before he left," Kate explained.

"Very nice. Now let's get you all set up to get some rest. Tomorrow morning could be ugly," Kara frowned.


	2. Chapter 2

Kara skipped heading into work, leaving a voicemail for her coworker, William Dey, asking him to cover for her. He was a very sweet guy and she hated to drag him into her side work anymore than she had to, especially since he did not know her secret. Still, with James no longer working at CatCo., there was no one else she could ask for cover. Nia had promised to meet her at the Tower.

Kate had been quiet through breakfast and now as they rode the elevator up to the Tower, she still hadn't said much. Kara wasn't about to pry, the brunette had a lot on her plate. The doors opened and the blonde was glad to see that Nia had beaten them there.

"Welcome to the Tower. Our new base of operations," Kara smiled at Kate, who smiled back and put the duffel bag carrying her suit on the floor. Nia quickly gave Kara a hug and shook Kate's hand.

"Nice place you got here. A lot brighter than the Batcave," her friend smirked as Nia moved away as J'onn came over and shook Kate's hand.

"Sorry you had to see it given the circumstances. Kara says you have trouble back home," he said.

"That's one way of putting it. For now though, I'm here to help you guys with your Lex problem," Kate smiled.

"We'll take all the help we can get, but we have a bigger problem right now," Alex finally moved toward them after hanging up her phone.

"What kind of problem?" Kara asked.

"Kelly can't find William. He went after Eve last night and won't return any of her phone calls. Worse still, Obsidian North is launching their Worldwide Unity Festival and Kelly thinks that Andrea just brushed off her concerns about the programming problem," her sister said.

"Call Lena. She might have an idea of where Eve would be. She might also have away into Obsidian Platinum. I don't want to put Kelly in danger if we can do what we need to do remotely," Kara said. Alex nodded and quickly gave the raven haired woman a call.

"I'm guessing William is not part of the gang?" Kate asked.

"No, just a very nice guy, who happens to be a first rate reporter. He and Kelly were trying to find Eve and my guess is that he found her and not in a good way," Kara frowned. That's when M'gann landed on the balcony of the tower.

"M'gann, what's going on?" J'onn was concerned to see her considering she'd almost gotten killed when they were fighting the Suneater.

"Nothing good. Turn on the news," she said as she came down off the balcony. Quickly, J'onn heads to the computer and punches up the local news channel. _"The collapse of the D.E.O building yesterday has left many concerned regarding the safety of buildings here in the city, especially since this morning the U.S. Geological Survey is reporting tremors. Nothing that would cause a building to collapse, but that doesn't mean it isn't causing fear among the citizens of National City…"_ J'onn turned it off and frowned.

"Lena says she's working on getting a location but she wants to run some tests on your new suit before you try and go up against any of our Immortal friends," Alex announced, now off the phone.

"So Rama Khan must be looking for me and he's using the tremors as a way to draw me out. He's hoping I show up so he can use all of that Kryptonite he has on me," Kara said.

"Good thing Lena retooled your suit then, but I don't think we should let him find you just yet. The minute you attempt to use your powers, he'll know, and he and his friends will come looking for you," the Martian said.

"So we need a distraction," Kate nodded.

"Or the right decoys," M'gann had a smirk on her face, looking right at J'onn.

"No, no, no way. Absolutely not. I can tell those pants will chafe," he said. Kate was confused and looked at Kara, who had quite the smile on her face. Slowly, M'gann and J'onn transformed into Supergirl decoys.

"Ugh, I was right," the Green Martian really did not enjoy transforming into Kara.

"I quite like it," M'gann said, enjoying the look of her reflection in the computer screen.

"Ok that's the freakiest thing I've ever seen and my sister replaces people's faces," Kate said.

"How does she do that?" Nia asked.

"You don't wanna know. It usually involves murder," the brunette said. Nia immediately looked uncomfortable.

"Suit up everyone. Kara, make your way to Lena's and we'll do our best to distract them," J'onn said.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara used public transport and slowly made her way from the Tower to Lena's lab. J'onn had taken Kate on his decoy run while M'gann, Alex, and Nia went on theirs. Hopefully, the distractions would make it easier for Kara to get to Lena undetected.

"Glad you made it. It took longer than normal," the raven-haired woman commented as she let the blonde into her lab.

"I can't use my powers without triggering our Immortal friends. J'onn and M'gann graciously took up the task of distracting. It buys us a little time. What do you have?" Kara asked.

"I triangulated the last location that William's phone pinged at. He's in the Chinese District, which I can only assume is where Eve is hiding. Otherwise, he would have answered his phone," Lena said.

"Point well taken. He must have thought he could find out what she's up to and she caught him," Kara frowned. She quickly used the gold pin to change into her uniform.

"Eve might have important information regarding Obsidian Platinum. We know that Lex's and Leviathan's greasy paws are all over it, even if Andrea doesn't believe that they are going to use it for something evil," Lena frowned herself but quickly pulled out her tools to run a quick diagnostic on her friend's super suit.

"We have to get to Eve before Leviathan figures out where I'm at," Kara said.

"Your suit is responding well. I guess now is a good time as any to test it out," the raven-haired woman smiled slightly.

"How fast can you drive us to the Chinese District?" Kara asked, quickly switching back into her regular clothes, thankful for the ease of doing so with her new suit.

"Without getting pulled over?" Lena smirked. The two quickly headed out of the lab and down to Lena's SUV. The raven-haired woman expertly weaved her way through the traffic and Kara wondered where she'd learned to do that. Quite often, as a Luthor, she was driven everywhere. In fact, more often than not, Lena was a passenger.

"One of our bodyguards taught me how to drive. He also may have taught me a thing or two about escaping possible kidnappers if I was ever on my own," she smirked again.

"Well send him a thank you card. We've made record time," Kara smiled as they entered the Chinese District only ten minutes after leaving the lab at LuthorCorp. They disembarked from the vehicle and moved down the alley, figuring that Eve would not be dumb enough to grab William out near the street, in plain view.

Kara used her x-ray vision and her super hearing, trying to locate her coworker. Lena followed her hoping that they would find William alive and before the Jarhanpurians found them. Then came the noise that no one needed super hearing for – a gunshot. Kara quickly activated her super suit, grabbed Lena, and rushed into the building that was at the end of the alley. There they found William. He'd been shot by Eve in the shoulder. It was obviously painful. Eve was about to fire a shot when Kara shoved her into a nearby column, knocking her out.

"We have to get you to a hospital," Kara said to William. His response was something that surprised her.

"If you get kidnapped, you must be on the right track, something Kara Danvers likes to say. She was working the case with me, I have to make sure she's all right," he said.

"Kara's fine, I spoke to her," Lena had scooped up Eve's gun and was pointing it at the unconscious blonde. Kara was thankful for the cover given to her by her friend.

"Now hold still and let me look at this," the blonde quickly scanned the wound in her coworker's shoulder.

"Good news is, it's a through and through. Bad news is, if I don't cauterize it, you could lose too much blood, before we can get you to a hospital," she continued.

"Do it," William nodded. He knew that it would be almost as painful as the gunshot but if Supergirl felt it was necessary, then he'd do it. Kara quickly used her heat vision to seal up the wound and William screamed. Once she was done, she quickly checked him over again. She wanted to say something to him but didn't get the chance as the building shook and lightning struck inside the building. Kara slid over from William and saw that the enemy had found them. She turned her head to Lena,

"Get Eve and William out of here, I'll deal with this."

"All three of them have Kryptonite. The suit…" her friend was having concerns now that she could see what the Jarhanpurians were capable of.

"Just go," Kara said.

"I'll call for back up," Lena nodded and quickly moved to get the two out of the building. Kara quickly activated the protective portion of her suit, the helmet now protecting her from the Kryptonite. There was a lot of it, and she understood Lena's concern. Three Jarhanpurians against one Kryptonian. Silently hoping for backup to arrive soon, Kara dove into battle headfirst.


	4. Chapter 4

While the other Super Friends had joined Kara in her fight against the Jarhanpurians, Brainy was busy doing what he had to do in order to protect his friends. Unbeknownst to them, the twelfth level intellect had been helping Lex Luthor this whole time. After being told that the best way to destroy the elder Luthor sibling was to work alongside him, as his female doppelganger had suggested, he had cut all emotional ties, hurting Nia in the process.

He hadn't wanted it that way but he saw he had no other choice. The best way to protect Nia was to keep her away from what he was up to. Now, he would bottle Leviathan, and end the threat to all of his friends. Once they were bottled, he could destroy the ship, which the Jarhanpurians had been using as their hideout, effectively making sure that Lex couldn't get his hands on the technology.

There was one flaw with the plan and he knew it. The only way for him to input the mortality code into the ship, was to expose himself to the massive amounts of radiation that kept all humans and other trespassers out. It was a death sentence but it was the only way to make sure that Lex couldn't win the day and kill his friends. Now, he made his way toward the secret hideout, knowing that he would need an uninterrupted full ten minutes to complete his mission. He would only get one shot at this; there could be no do overs.

"Glad to have you guys here," Kara smiled after successfully causing Leviathan to disappear, thanks to her super clap. The team had bought her enough time to use the combat technique and things were looking up. Their reprieve was short lived however, as the Jarhanpurians reformed.

"Time to go," M'gann suggested.

"Everybody out," Kara agreed and they quickly exited the building. Grabbing those that could not fly, the team took off for Lena's lab. It would act as a hideout and it was also where, Lena had taken Eve.

The group made their way inside, only to find Lena, attempting to get Eve to talk. The blonde would not however; unless someone could guarantee her that her mother would be safe from the clutches of Lex's goons. His betrayal had really messed with the blonde and trusting a Luthor wasn't exactly high on her priority list.

"Eve, we will get your mom safe, I promise, but if we don't stop Leviathan, there are going to be a lot of people who will never see their relatives again. They are bent on destruction," Kara pressed her. Lena had tied her to a chair and the Kryptonian was wondering if she'd gain some traction if she freed her.

"You guys are a lot nicer than I thought. Last time I checked, this lady here isn't exactly on our friends list," Kate spoke up, moving closer to Kara.

"Who are you?" Eve asked.

"Someone they called in to clean up a mess. Seems like you left a big one in your wake," Kate wasn't backing down and the rest of the group were surprised to see that Supergirl wasn't stopping her.

"Look, Eve, we want to help, we really do but too many lives are on the line. What is Leviathan up to? Are they really immortal?" Kara asked.

"I'd answer her," Kate said as she cracked her knuckles.

"You'd let her hurt me?" Eve was cracking.

"I can't control my friend here. They do things a little different where she's from but I can't argue with the results," Kara admitted. The good cop/bad cop routine was working.

"Ok, ok. Yes, Leviathan is immortal. They intend to use Obsidian North's Unity Festival to kill people. They'll flick the switch and everyone who is logged on will die," Eve's brave face finally collapsed.

"That's billions of people," Alex swallowed.

"How do we reach that many people?" Dreamer asked.

"I can think of only one person," Lena looked at Kara.

"I've never done a hope speech to that many people before. I don't even know if I can reach everyone in enough time. The minute I enter the VR, someone will notice," the blonde said.

"I'd say we plan another distraction," Kate suggested.

"If we draw out Leviathan then they won't be able to stop Supergirl from reaching everyone through my connection into the Festival," Lena told them.

"Get on it. I know a way to draw Leviathan out," J'onn said.


	5. Chapter 5

Brainy watched as Rama Khan took off from the Leviathan hideout. He looked incredibly displeased and muttered something about a Martian. The twelfth level intellect couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that his friends had managed to upset the Jarhanpurians. It would buy him the time he needed to do what he intended.

Now with the hideout empty, Querl moved toward the main area where the control panels sat. He was going in without Lex's handy little pin which reflected the radiation and allowed non- Jarhanpurians to enter the space. He had no choice as Lex had refused to include him in the Luthor's plans. Lex was always three steps ahead and Brainy had yet to figure out how he'd been doing it. Admittedly, his own focus had been shifted in multiple directions, meaning he could not focus entirely on the Lex problem.

Swallowing hard, he walked through the force field and immediately felt its effects. Moving toward the computer center, Querl tried to steel himself against the pain that was quickly attempting to override all of his rational thought. Now at the machine, he began punching in the code that he needed to finish off Leviathan.

Ten minutes was going to be a long time but he stayed focused as he coded, willing his fingers to work faster. He'd calculated the numbers. That was a lot of radiation. Without the DEO's facilities, he would be too far gone to save. He might have had an outside shot if the medical lab was there but now, no local hospital could save him. Still it was a small price to pay if that meant the world would be safe from Leviathan.

Punching in the code seemed to be taking an eternity, but he knew that was the pain talking. Summoning his female counterpart, she quickly tries to keep him focused. Despite all that was going on, Brainy realized he had but one regret and that would be not being able to tell his friends goodbye. Explaining why he felt, he had to do this on his own, why he'd managed to alienate them all at one time or another.

Meanwhile, J'onn, M'gann, Alex, Nia, and Kate were doing their best to keep Leviathan distracted out at the meeting place J'onn had told their enemies to come to. Kate was surprised at the amount of crazy that was going on and how the team just seemed to roll with it. Admittedly, three fifths of the team were aliens so maybe it didn't bother them as much as it did her. Doing her best to keep up and to keep an eye on Alex, Kate continued to fight. While Kara had not asked her friend to keep an eye on her sister, the Gothamite figured it was better that the two humans have each other's backs in case their other friends became otherwise occupied. They could not be a hamper to the team and so far, Kate was very impressed with the redhead.

Across town, Lena had Kara inside the Obsidian North's Unity Festival. The blonde was impressed with the technology despite the fact that it was intended to be used to harm people. There had been a lot of work put into Andrea's dream and now it was all about to come apart at the seams.

"How can I reach people at the same time? They all aren't in the same places," Kara asked Lena.

"Not to worry. I can replicate you," her friend responded. Suddenly there were billions of Supergirls, one for every person that logged on.

"This no doubt will have triggered any alarms that Leviathan had in place. Get your speech on," Lena informed her. Kara quickly went into trying to reach everyone that now stood in front of her. The raven-haired woman was right of course. Only about two minutes into Kara's speech, the alarms in the lab were triggered. However, Lena was not expecting what she found as she turned her head away from the computer program.

"Andrea?" The woman was clad head to toe in a black outfit and the unmistakable weapon in her hand was a Kryptonite dagger.

"Get out of the way, Lena," her old friend said.

"Not a chance. You do realize what they're going to do with your dream right? If I don't let Supergirl finish, billions will die," the Luthor held her ground. She had no idea how Andrea entered the lab without sooner detection and she figured that the gun she had would be of no use. What worried her more is that Eve seemed to be missing from the holding cell that she'd been put in after the team dispersed. Possibly outnumbered, she had no way of protecting herself against her old friend and the hired hit-woman at the same time.

"If I don't finish her off, my father…" Andrea didn't get into any more details as she advanced on Lena. The raven-haired woman moved between her friends, knowing that she had to protect Kara at all costs, even if that meant at the cost of her own life.


	6. Chapter 6

The Super Friends were doing their best to fight off Rama Khan and his fellow Jarhanpurians in an industrial district – away from the bulk of society. To Kate, it looked like they were losing. Suddenly she heard Alex cry out and her attention turned just in time to see the redhead go down at the base of a large broken part of the parking lot pavement. Jumping from her position, she covered Alex with her cape, in an attempt to shield her from a possible second blast.

"You ok?" Kate asked as she switched her helmet into night vision mode, helpful in the darkness she'd created with her cape. Alex was having trouble breathing, the scorch mark on her chest indicated that she'd had, at a minimum, the wind knocked out of her. Worse could be broken ribs. It must not have been a direct hit for as far as the Gothamite could figure, a direct hit would mean death.

"All right, don't move," Kate told her before reaching for her comms.

"We need help. Alex took a shot to the chest, she's having trouble breathing," Kate let the team know. She got no response and that concerned her. Switching out of night vision mode, Kate pulled back the cape and turned her head to find out why there had been no response.

"Where'd they go?" Kate asked. Their foe had suddenly disappeared.

"I have no idea. They had us," J'onn admitted before quickly heading over to take a look at Alex.

"Where's Dreamer?" M'gann asked. Everyone, including Alex, looked around. They found the young hero holding her head, hiding amongst the rubble of the site.

"We have to get to Brainy," she called out; a vision was causing her to not be able to stand. What she saw was frightening her.

"Go. I'll get Alex into the SUV and back to Lena's lab," Kate told them. J'onn hesitated but M'gann quickly went to Dreamer and grabbed her up. The female Martian took to the skies and J'onn followed.

"Man this hurts," Alex finally managed.

"Easy there kiddo. Pretty sure those ribs are not in one piece. Lena will have better facilities to double check. We just need to get to the SUV first," Kate told her. Carefully, the brunette scooped her knees up and helped her stand. Alex seemed steadier on her feet but definitely in pain. Kate pulled her gently to her and helped her pick her way through the busted bits of the parking lot where the fight had been occurring.

"I'm wishing I had my motorcycle," Kate admitted as they moved toward the luckily undamaged former DEO SUV. Before Alex quit the DEO, she'd made sure that one of the vehicles that was due to be decommissioned ended up in J'onn's hands. His ship was on Mars and if he was going to keep his PI gig up, he needed a car.

"A… batcycle…?" Alex asked.

"I guess you could call it that. Luke made sure it was all tricked out. Kara said you had a bike," Kate smiled. They were almost out of the mess and the SUV was getting closer. There was a smirk from Alex as they finally exited the rubble. The moving toward the vehicle now easier, they made it over and inside in just a few minutes.

Kate fired the engine up and the SUV was on the move. Alex seemed more uncomfortable in a seat but she had to sit up to make it to Lena's lab. Kate attempted to reach out to Kara via the comms but got nothing. The blonde was probably still trying to save the billions trapped inside the Unity Festival. Alex punched Lena's number into her phone, anything to distract her, but also got no response.

"Something… is… wrong…," Alex managed in shallow breaths. Kate gunned the engine of the SUV.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just as a heads up, I'm not sure I'll be able to post next week. I hope you're enjoying the story and if I don't post next week, I will definitely post the week after. Thanks for sticking with me.
> 
> Also, I borrowed part of the original scene from the season finale. I don't own the show, just needed it to make my point. :)

J'onn landed next to M'gann outside of a non-descript building not far from where they'd been fighting Leviathan. He looked at her and she just shrugged. Nia seemed to be better now that her vision had ended, and she said,

"Can you search the buildings? He has to be here somewhere."

"I don't think we have to guess which one. Look," J'onn pointed. Not far from their spot, a limo pulled up in the dark.

"Lex," M'gann frowned and pointed.

"He must know where he's going. Come on," J'onn said. M'gann grabbed Nia's arm and they flew into the sky, unable to be seen by the naked eye. The three watched the elder Luthor enter the building that the limo was parked in front of. The limo driver didn't move so J'onn landed next to the vehicle and knocked the man out through the open driver's side window. M'gann and Nia followed Lex.

He entered the main doors of building and then beyond that, there was only one door, which he had to punch a code into a panel next to it. The doors opened, revealing an elevator. Unsure of what lay beyond the elevator, or whether they'd encounter another door which needed a password, the two ladies carefully squeezed into the small car before the doors closed.

At the bottom, the doors opened, and Lex and his shadows exited the elevator. There they found a room complete with a bar and decorated in dark woods. Beyond that seemed to be a room meant for computers and machines. Lex walked right through the doorway but M'gann could feel the radiation and she stopped Nia before the young woman crossed the threshold.

"Who do you think you are? We had a plan. Leviathan kills Supergirl and you kill Leviathan. And together we save this planet from the invulnerable aliens, who think they know what's best for mankind. Why couldn't you just wait for Supergirl for die?" Lex's voice carried through the room. Neither M'gann nor Nia knew who he was admonishing and so they waited for what came next.

"Underestimated me. My friends. I'd never let you kill them," the voice was weak but undeniable. Lex then disappeared from view, behind a large console.

"No, Brainiac five. Uh, I underestimate nothing. I knew you would decide to shrink the gods instead of kill them due to your precious moral code, I planned for that. I just didn't think you would kill yourself. Well… Supergirl lives. But, I have the ball," Lex had seated himself across from Brainy who could feel every ounce of life being sucked out of him now.

"No…" Brainy murmured.

"You gave me exactly… what I needed," Lex got onto one knee and removed the tube, holding Leviathan from the twelfth level intellects hands. Brainy couldn't hold on anymore.

"I'm just gonna kill Supergirl myself. It'll be fun. And you… can die alone. Just like you intended," Lex then mock saluted the dying Coluan with the tube and headed for the door. He just made it through to the other side when M'gann appeared and punched him in the face. Lex dropped backwards, knocked out cold, having been completely unprepared for what had just happened. The tube went flying and Nia caught it.

"We have to get Brainy out of there," she said.

"Not with that radiation field we can't. Lex walked right through it. How did he do that?" M'gann wanted to know. Nia set the tube down on a nearby table and quickly scanned the man's body.

"There's a brooch that seems odd for him to be wearing," she said. Grabbing it off of the unconscious Luthor's suit, Nia gave it to the Martian, who pinned it to her suit before moving toward the doorway. Nia grabbed the tube off the table, so that Lex couldn't steal it if he woke up.

M'gann easily crossed the barrier and ran over to Brainy, who was struggling to breathe. His green blood was trickling down the corner of his mouth. Quickly, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to her. Lifting him up, she ran back across the doorway. Setting him down on the table, she tried to assess his injuries.

"We can't help him. Only Lena might have some ideas," M'gann admitted.

"Let's get out of here," Nia said. The two made their way to the elevator and hopped back inside. As the doors closed, they could see Lex slowly starting to move. They had made it out just in time but only time would tell if it was fast enough for Brainy.


	8. Chapter 8

"I don't know what's going on here, but I do know that you're out of options," Kate said. The hero from Gotham had walked into scene before her, not exactly knowing what to expect, given everything she'd seen that day. The woman, who was threatening Lena, had what appeared to be a Kryptonite dagger. Kara was still in the virtual world, so the brunette knew she was on her own. The intended target was obviously the blonde but if Lena got in the way, there was no telling what could happen.

"If I don't do as they ask, they will destroy my father," Andrea said. Kate looked at her uniform - it didn't look like it would be something that would take much to damage. Perhaps a well-placed batarang would do the trick.

"Andrea, we can help you," Lena started. She'd tried earlier but hadn't gotten very far. She did figure out, however, how her friend could do what she did - medallion of Acrata. The raven-haired woman thought that she should have been able to reach her former friend, but the truth was Kara was the better one at speaking to people.

"Leviathan is gone. They disappeared before my eyes. Now I've got an injured friend in the SUV outside and she needs help. I intend to get her that help, so the question is, will you drop the dagger, or will you make me make you drop it?" Kate was losing patience but also hoping that if this Andrea would focus on her, perhaps Lena could get Kara out of the VR system.

"How can they be gone?" Andrea turned her body toward Kate and Lena used the opportunity to check and see Kara's progress. Users were fleeing from the platform, but they weren't all gone yet. If she pulled her friend out now, people would die. She had no way of knowing if what Kate said was true. Not that she didn't believe Kate – if Kara trusted her then it was good enough for Lena; it was more about how all-powerful beings could just disappear.

"I honestly have no idea but if they hadn't disappeared then I wouldn't be standing here," Kate decided telling the truth was best. Andrea breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief and then vanished.

"How in the…" Kate started.

"Long story. Supergirl is almost done with the VR world. Who is hurt?" Lena asked.

"Alex. Broken ribs, I think. You have something that could get her up here? Not sure having her leaning on me for the long distance from the parking garage is such a good idea," Kate admitted. The raven-haired woman nodded and said,

"You keep an eye on Supergirl and I'll get Alex. When all the users are out of the platform, all you need to do is press the exit button the screen and she'll come out of it." With that Lena went to a nearby closet, pulled out a wheelchair, and was out the door.

"Hurry up Kara," Kate was nervous for her friend. Andrea had brought up a good point. How could Leviathan just disappear? Especially since they had the humans and Martians right where they wanted them. There could be one of them left out there, waiting to push the button, not to mention Lex Luthor was still on the loose.

"Lena come in," a voice crackled from the nearby radio and Kate recognized it as J'onn's.

"She's helping Alex. What's going on?" Kate responded.

"Brainy is in a bad way. We need help immediately," J'onn didn't sugar coat it.

"She'll be right back. Supergirl is almost done," Kate updated him.

"We're two minutes out," with that J'onn returned his focus to flying toward the lab. Kate's eyes returned to the numbers on the screen. Kara had done it. There were no more people inside the virtual world. Pressing the onscreen button, Kate turned to her friend and saw that Kara was slowly sitting up.

"You did it!" Kate smiled.

"That is such a relief. Wait, why are you here? Where is Lena?" Kara wanted to know.

"She's getting Alex. She'll be right back. J'onn is inbound with Brainy. He said that there is something very wrong with him but didn't tell me what," Kate said. The blonde was about to ask what had happened to her sister when Lena reentered the lab, Alex in the wheelchair.

"Alex," Kara was very concerned as she rushed over to her sister.

"I need some help getting her on the bed," Lena said. She'd barely gotten the words out when J'onn came through the walls, holding Brainy. M'gann was right behind him with Dreamer.

"Radiation poisoning," J'onn said.

"Help… Brainy…," Alex ordered. Lena took off and Kara carefully lifted her sister out of the wheelchair and onto the bed. Using her x-ray vision, the blonde confirmed what Kate had suspected, broken ribs and bruising.

"I'll stay with her. See if you can help Lena," Kate said. Kara took off, hoping to help her friends.

"It's… bad… isn't… it?" Alex asked the brunette. Kate looked at the team trying to help Brainy and the look on Nia's face.

"Yes, it's bad," she frowned.


	9. Chapter 9

Kate had pulled up a chair next to Alex and the two watched as their friends worked feverishly to save the Coluan. Kara sped about getting Lena things she needed while M'gann kept Nia back, trying to comfort her as best she could. J'onn was setting up the isolation unit that Brainy would need to be moved into once Lena was done.

"How's… it… going?" Alex couldn't see very well from her angle.

"Not sure but how are you feeling? You want me to find you some pain meds? Broken ribs suck," Kate responded. She was trying to keep the redhead's thoughts off her sick friend. Alex pointed to the control panel on the side of the bed and the brunette found it. The redhead turned her right hand so her palm was facing up and then moved it up and down, to indicate that Kate should move the head of the bed up. Carefully, the Gothamite did as her friend indicated until they found a spot that made the redhead the most comfortable. Then Kate grabbed some extra pillows from a nearby bed to help box Alex in – one pillow went on each side of the former leader of the DEO.

"There, no rolling over for you. I'll see if I can scrounge up some ibuprofen," Kate promised. Alex nodded, trying to figure out how to breath better. She was going to need medication and sleep to help heal her ribs.

"I need to run more tests. For now, let's get him into the isolation unit. Then everyone who was close to him will need to take a shower to wash off the radiation. I'll also need blood samples to test and make sure no one is carrying around more radiation than they should," Lena said.

"You and Nia should go first. You're the most susceptible to the radiation. I'll collect blood samples from myself and M'gann," J'onn spoke up as he wheeled a now unconscious Brainy into the isolation unit. Lena nodded and then went over to Nia and the aforementioned Martian. Quickly, the raven-haired woman whisked Nia away towards the special showers she had in the back part of the lab. There were only two so it would take a while to get everyone cleaned up.

"You guys know where Lena keeps the pain meds? Alex could use some," Kate asked Kara. The brunette had moved over to the large medical cabinet, near the far-right corner of the room. The blonde kept her distance, not wanting to spread the radiation around.

"Top left-hand drawer," Kara replied.

"Thanks," Kate popped open the drawer and found what she was looking for. She then moved to the water cooler and got a cup of water. Heading for Alex, Kate helped the redhead take the medication.

"Get some sleep," the brunette smiled, and Alex nodded. Kate moved away and got as close to Kara as she could.

"So?" She asked.

"Heavy radiation poisoning. Lena wants to run more tests," Kara said.

"What's the tube?" Kate wanted to know.

"It's what got Brainy in this mess. My guess is that it might explain how Leviathan disappeared so quickly. We need the full story from the others," her curiosity was getting the better of the blonde. Kate nodded. She had a feeling that this was going to be a long night.

Meanwhile, Lex was fuming as his driver took him back to his residence. His plans had completely fallen apart. There had to be a next move but what it was exactly, he wasn't sure. It had been a long time since he was in this position. He'd made his way out then; he could do it again.


	10. Chapter 10

Kara had called Kelly, who quickly headed over to Lena's lab. Now scrubbed of radiation, and her clothes incinerated, Lena had put on some clothes she kept at the lab as spares. Intercepting the psychologist, the raven-haired woman took her to see her resting girlfriend.

"So Leviathan is in this tube?" Kara asked. The others had moved away from the two patients to have a private discussion.

"Yes. We need to keep it away from Lex. He will try and release them. Seems the obsession with killing Kryptonians hasn't waned," M'gann said.

"I'm less worried about me and more worried that not all of them are in there. What about Gemma?" The blonde wanted to know.

"I have no idea," J'onn admitted.

"Then we need to see if she's still out and about. Perhaps a call to William is in order," Nia spoke up. She'd been mostly quiet since her shower. Luckily, her suit, which Brainy had designed, was more radiation proof than anyone had realized. Kara's suit had handled the radiation just fine. The Martians weren't as susceptible to radiation as the others but their uniforms were the toughest of the bunch.

"I need to see him in person. I had to cauterize his shoulder. I mean he doesn't know that but a visit from Kara Danvers may be in order," the blonde said.

"Yes that is a better idea but it'll have to wait until the sun comes up. It's almost three am. I say for now, we move our operations to the Tower. Lex doesn't know about it and it would offer us a good place to hide the tube," J'onn pointed out.

"What about Alex?" Kate piped up. She was still trying to absorb everything.

"I better help with that," Kara nodded. She quickly tapped the left cape attachment and her suit revealed the clothes she'd been wearing before, the gold pin on her shirt.

"All right. Meet us at the Tower," J'onn said. Kara nodded and was off.

"I can't leave Brainy," Nia spoke up.

"Stay with him. We'll know where to find you," M'gann patted her shoulder. Nia then left the three standing there and pulled a seat near the containment unit.

"I'll take the SUV over to your place," Kate said.

"Leave it here for Nia, in case she needs it. We'll give you a lift," J'onn smiled. Kate wasn't sure about that but he had made a good point about Nia. M'gann put her hand on Kate's shoulder while J'onn grabbed the tube and they disappeared.

A few hours later, Kara met William at the coffee shop. He had taken the day off, partially because he wasn't sure how to explain his shoulder wound to his coworkers. The blonde had wanted to tell him what was going on but knew she couldn't.

"How are you?" She asked instead of pressing about Gemma.

"The pain meds are a wonderful thing. I'm glad you're safe," he told her.

"Lena helped me hide but after I heard you were hurt, I had to find you," Kara said. William looked like he wanted to say something but his phone buzzed. He quickly apologized and looked at the message.

"It's Franklin…" the look on William's face told Kara that something was up.

"He says that Andrea's office has been trashed. All of the screens are shattered and there are electrical burns all over the walls. He's sending pictures," he said. The phone buzzed a few more times and William handed his phone to Kara. She looked at the pictures, her eyes widened.

"Where is Andrea?" She wondered. William typed out the message to Franklin and the response was swift.

"He has no idea," he said.


	11. Chapter 11

Kara had told William to stay low and she'd reach out to Lena, since the raven-haired woman knew Andrea. He promised he would, but the blonde wondered if he'd listen. They parted in front of the coffee shop and Kara quickly whipped out her cell phone to call her friend.

"I haven't seen Andrea since Batwoman helped me get her to stand down," Lena admitted.

"That's a problem," Kara frowned despite her friend not being able to see her.

"We've got enough troubles right now. Brainy has taken a turn for the worse," by the way Lena had lowered her tone, Kara knew that her friend didn't want Nia to overhear.

"What can we do?" The blonde asked.

"I need help but I'm not sure who I could trust," Lena admitted.

"Doctor Rodgers, I know where I can find him. I'll see what I can do," Kara promised.

"As fast as you can, please," with that the phone call ended and the blonde ducked into the nearby alley. She double tapped the gold pin and took off into the sky.

"I'm not liking that Kara is not back yet," Kate said. She'd started pacing around the Tower, glad to be back in her street clothes. J'onn and M'gann were trying to figure out how Brainy had encapsulated their enemies and where Lex was hiding. He would be looking for his toy, M'gann was sure of it. Kate was trying to help but she was finding it hard to focus.

"I agree but she can take care of herself," J'onn spoke up without taking his eyes off the computer.

"Yes, well we still have a Leviathan member and a Luthor running around don't we? Also, that lady in black," Kate pointed out.

"Lena called her Andrea, right?" M'gann asked.

"Yes. Though how she knew that I don't know," the brunette said.

"There's only one Andrea who showed up recently and she knows Lena from college. It would seem the new owner of CatCo. is in fact the lady in black," J'onn turned from the computer.

"Geez. Everybody connected here in National City?" Kate wondered.

"It's a Luthor thing," the male Martian said which just made the Gothamite nod. _Kind of like it's a Wayne thing,_ she thought to herself.

"So, is she an alien?" M'gann wondered.

"I don't think so. Barry called them meta-humans," Kate said.

"That would make the most sense from what I understand of the particle accelerator explosion," J'onn agreed and then turned back to the computer. That's when they heard the elevator kick into gear. It had to be Kara.

"What on Earth are you doing woman?" Kate asked. That comment made J'onn turn around, just in time to see M'gann and Kate helping Alex into a chair.

"Kelly doesn't know you're here, does she?" M'gann gave her a look.

"She got… called to work… It seems… Andrea is missing... My guess is… that she's helping… Leviathan," Alex slowly and carefully spoke to the words, mindful not to breathe too deeply.

"You could have called you know," J'onn said.

"Kara… not answering phone… Thought she was… here…" Alex admitted.

"Damn," Kate cursed and turned on her heel. Disappearing into the back room, she was out minutes later, in her nighttime attire.

"Track Kara's phone or her comms or whatever you can. I'm going after her," the Gothamite told J'onn. He quickly used a second computer to try and track the blonde.

"No need to go flying off. She's at Lena's lab," he said.

"And she'd only be there if something bad happened to Brainy or that shadow lady showed up again. I'm going. Hold the fort. That tube can't get into Lex's hands," Kate told him. M'gann took hold of her shoulder and the two ladies were off.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know we've all been handed some bad news - this upcoming season will be the last for Supergirl. Some good news though is that Melissa had her baby and everyone is happy and healthy. :)

When M'gann and Kate landed inside a corner of Lena's lab, the Martian did not hang around, knowing that J'onn should not be left alone. Nia saw them and quickly came over to Kate. She was no longer wearing her uniform and Kate guessed that Lena must have lent her some regular clothes.

"You're looking for Kara?" She asked.

"Figured there was trouble afoot when she didn't report back to the Tower. J'onn tracked her here. Alex said that Kara wasn't answering her phone," Kate explained.

"That's because she's assisting Doctor Rodgers. He used to work at the DEO," Nia said. The human-Naltorian hybrid led her over near the containment unit where Brainy was. Lena was standing by watching them carefully and retrieving whatever they needed, feeding it through the mini-airlock on the unit.

"What's going on?" Kate wanted to know.

"Doctor Rodgers is attempting a tricky procedure. The typical medicine that we use for radiation poisoning isn't working as well in his Coluanian system. So the good doctor is attempting to flush his system out before then injecting the medicine directly into his arteries,"

"Better spread of the medicine to help defeat the radiation," Kate seemed to understand it.

"Yes but he's also doubling the dose of medicine. Since Brainy was able to withstand the larger amount of radiation before having major organ failure, he should be able to handle more of the medicine," Lena was being quite clinical but that did nothing for Nia's nerves. Kate put her arm around her, just to reassure Nia that they were all there for her and for Brainy.

"Kara is assisting since she can stand next to Brainy without needing a special suit like Doctor Rodgers," the Luthor told them.

"Well she was freaking everyone out. Alex showed up at the Tower. She said it was because Kara wasn't answering her phone but I think her sisterly concerns overrode her concern for her broken ribs," the Gothamite said.

"The best thing for her is to lie down and rest," Lena was concerned now.

"I have a feeling that when it comes to each other, the Danvers sisters don't really think clearly. Most people would kill for that," Kate told them; her own sister issues were definitely an example that no one hoped for.

"I would agree," Nia said. After the explosion her sister had, the two had not been talking. Kara tried to help but there was only so much that the Kryptonian could do. Most of what needed to be done had to be done by Nia and Maeve.

"Yes well I wish my brother wasn't a maniacal narcissist but here we are," Lena said.

"Good to know I have company in the screwed up family department," Kate shook her head.

"Now that Kara has brought you into her circle, you will receive more than you can possibly give. She may love Alex more than anyone here but do not doubt that she loves us all," Nia spoke up.

"I did notice that about her," the brunette nodded. Their chit-chat was interrupted by Doctor Rodgers.

"We've done all we can do. Now Brainy must do the rest," he said.

"Thank you. Thank all of you," Nia told them.

"Of course. When was the last time you had something to eat?" Kara wanted to know as she headed for the large airlock, the only way in and out of the containment unit.

"I made sure she had a bagel this morning," Lena said.

"Yeah I think she needs more than that," Kate admitted.

"I think we call could," Kara told them as she headed for the radiation shower.

"Who's buying?" Doctor Rodgers wanted to know. He had exited the airlock and was heading for the radiation shower as well. Before anyone could say anything else, J'onn busted in on the comms.

"There's a Lexosuit sighting down in the park. Civilians are in danger but it is probably a distraction," he said.

"Send M'gann to get me. We'll handle the Lexosuit. Supergirl, head to J'onn. That tube…" Kate said. The blonde nodded and was out a nearby window. M'gann was there in an instant and Kate disappeared with her.

"Some things never change do they?" Rodgers asked.

"No they do not," Lena said.


	13. Chapter 13

M'gann and Kate landed in the park in the middle of the city. Sure enough, there was a Lexosuit but what it was doing, neither lady could figure out. It was just standing there and people were avoiding it at all costs – not sure what else to do.

M'gann tried to see if she could discern if someone was in the suit using her powers. Kate looked at her confused until the Martian said,

"The suit is empty. It must be activated from somewhere else."

"So why hasn't it attacked?" Kate gave her a look.

"Perhaps it was expecting Supergirl," M'gann said.

"She's a tad busy right now," there was a voice behind them and they both swirled around.

"Superman, it is good to see you," M'gann smiled.

"You as well. Batwoman, good to see you. Now how about we see if this Lexosuit has any punch?" He asked. With a smirk, he flew up over the top of the ladies and landed directly in front of the suit. He flicked it with his right hand and the suit fell over.

"I heard these were more vicious," Kate said. Clark turned his head, and the two ladies recognized the move. Kara did almost the same thing when she was using her super-hearing.

"Oh they are. This one is rigged to blow. I'm getting it out of here," Superman scooped it up and headed out into the atmosphere and over the harbor. As the clock counted down, he threw it with all his might. The suit hit its apex and blew up; a green cloud came out of it. Clark knew what it was – Kryptonite. Glad that he was far enough away from it, he headed back to the park.

"It was laced," he said, landing next to the ladies. They knew what he meant – there was only one thing that could affect the cousins.

"Nice. Glad you didn't breathe it in," Kate said.

"Me too. That seems too easy for Lex, doesn't it?" Superman wondered.

"Oh much too easy," M'gann agreed.

"We better split up. Someone needs to get to Lena's lab and the others need to get to HQ," Kate said.

"I'll head to Lena's. You guys get back to my cousin," with that Superman was gone. M'gann took hold of Kate's shoulder and they were gone in a flash. The two landed back inside the Tower and found that everything seemed to be well.

"Superman showed up and helped out," Kate said.

"He did?" Kara was surprised.

"I called for backup. Besides Clark was itching to help out," J'onn smiled.

"He's been saying how much he missed this. There was no trouble on Argo," Kara smirked.

"Not enough trouble in Metropolis?" Kate was confused.

"Oh there is trouble but mostly with the boys," the blonde said.

"Boys? I thought Lois had just…" Kate was really confused.

"Crisis blessed them with twins. We aren't sure why. More on that later though. Did he head to Lena's lab?" Kara wanted to know.

"Yes. There doesn't seem to be trouble here…" M'gann had a look on her face. She was obviously bothered by the whole thing and the others were understanding of why.

"The Lexosuit was a decoy but why would Lex go and bother Lena?" J'onn raised an eyebrow.

"Especially since his mother is no longer in jail. If he would go to anyone, I would have thought her. She always favored him and kept all his crazy gadgets," Kara's disgust was obvious.

"Yes but his sister has Brainy, who knows how to undo what he did," Kate said.

"True but he figured that Brainy would die. He said as much when Nia and I stole the tube," M'gann explained.

"Well he's in for a surprise then. I'll head back over there to make sure that everything is ok," Kara said. Before anyone could do anything, the blonde was out of the window.

"Any ideas on the tube?" Kate asked.

"Leviathan is shrunk down inside the tube. The best thing is to keep them in there. Problem is, we have nowhere to hide this from Lex. With the DEO destroyed, there's no secure, twenty-four hour watched place. We'll all have to sleep sometime," J'onn frowned.

"I have a wild and crazy idea," Kate said.

"How wild and crazy?" M'gann wanted to know.

"Couldn't we send them to Argo? I mean Lex has no way to get there and they'd be able to keep everything sealed up," the Gothamite figured.

"I like you're thinking but I have a better idea. The Phantom Zone," J'onn said.

"Excellent idea. Lex could not retrieve it and even if they somehow broke the container, they'd be stuck," M'gann smiled and quickly retrieved the Projector. In an instant, the tube was gone, off to the Phantom Zone.

"Hey guys," Kara's voice came over the comms.

"What's up?" Kate asked.

"Nothing. He's not here," the blonde said.

"What the hell is he up to?" Kate wondered.


	14. Chapter 14

He had been disappointed that Superman had showed up. His intention had been just to get the Martians and Batwoman distracted by having to help Supergirl. Admittedly, the plan had been thrown together fast and didn't exactly work but it had unexpected results. Now both Kryptonians were in National City. Perhaps not all was lost.

"The Lexosuit was a weak attempt, but there are bigger fish to fry," Lillian said. They were in his lab, trying to stay under the radar.

"Gemma is still alive, but she's gone into hiding. Her human form has basically disintegrated," Lex told her. He was so glad that he'd put security cameras all over CatCo. after Lena bought it. Andrea had not disabled them, so he was able to see what had happened until the screens went dark.

"With the others shrunk, she is on her own. It would be best to strike now," Lillian was trying to get him focused.

"We need the others in order to bring down the Kryptonians," Lex reminded her.

"Leviathan is a bigger problem than you realize. We may need the Kryptonians to take down the ones above Gemma. Do you really think they won't come looking for you? After allowing a human into their inner circle, everything they've been doing for hundreds of years has been thrown out with the bath water," his mother gave him a look.

"The only way to prove to Leviathan that we are a formidable enemy is to prove that we can take out Kryptonians!" Lex was losing his cool.

"You're just trying to make an excuse for your obsession. Stay focused. That is one thing I wish I could have taught you to overcome. Even as a child, you had a tendency toward obsession. You seem to forget what happened to Captain Ahab," Lillian reminded him of the classic novel by Herman Melville. Lex clenched his fists but knew that his mother was probably right. They had no idea how powerful the ones in power above Gemma were. In fact, given what happened, they might eliminate Gemma on their own.

"Let's get to work," he finally said. The two set about trying to figure out how to get to Gemma and what to do once they found her.

The heroes had regrouped and now were all at the Tower. They had even made Nia come with them. Lena had promised to get Dr. Rodgers some lunch and that they would keep an eye on Brainy.

"So, you sent the tube to the Phantom Zone," Superman said.

"Was the safest place we could think of," J'onn told him.

"I had suggested Argo, but I think the Phantom Zone sounds like a better place. You guys were keeping that in your back pocket," Kate said.

"It's usually a last resort but I think that it was the right choice. Lex can't get his hands on it. He doesn't know that though so he will try something," Kara spoke up.

"Definitely… What about… Andrea?" Alex asked. Her sister had been upset that she'd gotten herself to J'onn's and ordered her to rest on a cot that J'onn had retrieved from his office downstairs.

"That is our next focus. There is a good chance that Leviathan has captured her or is forcing her to do things she doesn't want to do," M'gann said.

"Lena told me that she gained her powers from medallion of Acrata. We know that Leviathan is using her on some level but with the others gone, that only leaves Gemma left. How do we find her?" Kara wondered.

"The first place to start is the Lair and we have a key," Nia said pointing to the brooch that M'gann still wore.

"Let's go," Kara said.


	15. Chapter 15

M'gann, Kara, Clark, and Kate arrived at the location the female Martian had been to before. The three followed her lead as they entered the elevator and then waited for it to go down to the level that Brainy had begun his possible final act. The doors opened and everyone took in their surroundings but made no noise, not wanting to alert anyone to their arrival. The elevator doors had been surprisingly quiet.

As Kara moved toward the entryway to the Control Room she could feel the radiation coming off of it. She was surprised that Brainy was alive at all. He was a brave man and she hoped that he made it through.

"No one seems to be here," Superman said, coming back from his sweep.

"I agree. Where else would this Gemma go?" M'gann wondered.

"Could she go to this Andrea's place?" Kate asked.

"Do you think we could track her through the ship's computer?" Kara suddenly spoke up. M'gann shrugged. Making sure she had the brooch on, the Martian walked through the opening and over to the computer.

"Good thing they were from a sister planet of Krypton," M'gann said. Luckily she could read the symbols and did not need the Kryptonians to try and step through the radiation field.

"Any luck?" Clark wanted to know.

"There doesn't seem to be a locator program but there is a list of addresses…" M'gann narrowed her eyes trying to see if she knew where they were in National City.

"Is there any way to print them?" Kate asked. The female Martian looked but didn't see anything for printing.

"My guess is that they use a device. Is there a pen and paper out there?" M'gann wondered. The three scrambled around looking for something.

"Maybe you should come out and give me the brooch. I can take a picture with my cowl. It sends the image to the Bat Cave but I can have Luke forward it. Though admittedly, I can't read Kryptonian," Kate said.

"Will the camera withstand the radiation?" Kara asked. They saw M'gann fiddling around with the computer.  
"Don't need to worry. I deactivated the radiation," she smiled and quickly all three joined her. Kate snapped images of the screen and they looked around in the room for anything else that might help them.

"Guess we better start with these," Clark spoke up.

"It's all we have though I think we can get Andrea's address and see if it's on the list," Kara said.

"That's our next target, whether her address is on the list or not," her cousin said. M'gann and Kate agreed. The group headed out of the headquarters to move on with their task.

Nia had told Kelly that Alex was at J'onn's and needless to say, she was not thrilled. The woman wanted to drop everything but she was stuck at the office. People were panicking. The failure of Obsidian Platinum and the disappearance of Andrea were not helping matters.

"William!" She was surprised to see the reporter at her office door.

"Something is up and I suspect it's got something to do with Andrea missing. With Kara underground, I need your help," he said. His arm was in a sling but he seemed well.

"Things are nuts here," Kelly pointed out.

"Yes well I think I know why," he said. That piqued her interest.

"Ok what have you got?" She wanted to know.


	16. Chapter 16

The sun was setting on the day and the team had nothing to show for the list of addresses. They found that Andrea was at none of them. The other addresses led to empty apartments, warehouses, and a few now empty lots. Kara went to check on Brainy and Lena while the others returned to the Tower. Once there, M'gann took Alex home.

"I guess we better call it for the night. I have no leads on Lex and what he could be up to and no leads on Andrea or Gemma," J'onn frowned.

"Leviathan must have warned their assets to get out. I can't think of why they'd keep a list of empty places," Kate figured.

"I would agree. If you need me, I'll be home with Lois and the boys," with that the man of steel was out the window and gone.

"I should go back to Brainy," Nia said.

"You're going home and sleeping in your own bed for at least tonight. We can't have you getting sick," J'onn told her.

"I agree. Brainy is in good hands plus Kara is checking on him," Kate nodded. Nia wanted to object but she was not going to win that argument. M'gann took a hold of the young woman's shoulder and they were gone.

"Looks like it's just me and you Papa Bear," Kate smirked.

"Papa Bear?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You have to know that you're the Dad in this little family," the Gothamite said.

"Ah I see what you mean. Since we're having a Papa Bear moment, what's going on with you? I know you and Kara get along, but I can't imagine you'd leave Gotham with no protection," J'onn said. Kate went into her story, feeling like the Martian might have some good ideas.

"I'm glad you reached out. We'll see what we can do. Any word from home?" J'onn wondered.

"Luke says that Alice has gone underground and that my dad is tearing the city apart looking for her. It's probably fine that I haven't popped up or rather my night job hasn't popped up," Kate explained.

"Probably so. I know that it might not seem like it but Batwoman brings hope to the people of Gotham. They had Batman for many years and then he vanished so now that they have you, they will want to keep you. You make them feel safe," the Martian said.

"My dad blames Batman for my mother's death and my sister's turn into insanity. It wasn't his fault. The Joker handed him a choice. The car or a school bus full of kids. He thought he had both covered. He literally did everything he could do, and it still wasn't enough. How could I ever make my dad see that? How can I make him see that my night job isn't a bad thing?" She wanted to know.

"That is not an easy question. He betrayed you, even though he didn't know it was you, it was still a betrayal. His words are no longer his bond. Perhaps that is where you start. Remind him that he lied. Remind him that killing you wouldn't bring back your mom or Alice," J'onn suggested. Kate nodded. Kara landed back on the balcony and walked into the room.

"Brainy seems to be on the mend but it's going to be a few more days before we know for sure," the blonde said.

"Well at least it's a step in the right direction. I should change before we head out," Kate said. Kara couldn't help but smirk as she placed both her right index and middle finger on her right cape connection point. The nanites did their job and her clothes changed into those she'd been wearing earlier.

"We need to see if I can get some of those…" Kate shook her head before heading into the back room to change.

"Not sure the suit would then be bulletproof. I'm bulletproof so the suit doesn't have to be," the blonde reminded her.

"Yeah that would be a problem," the brunette called out. A few minutes later, the suit was in a duffel and she was ready to go.

"The cowl does a number on my hair. I need a shower," Kate said.

"Well plenty of hot water at my place," Kara smiled.

"Good night girls. See you tomorrow," J'onn smiled.

"Good night!" With that the two were on their way down the elevator. Once out on the street, Kara was going to flag down a cab, but Kate stopped her. The blonde gave her a look and Kate pointed to the streetlights. They were blinking. Not one, not two, all of them.

"Get J'onn. I'll hold her off," Kara quietly told her friend. Kate did not want to leave her, but she had no choice if she was to get her suit back on. Quickly running back inside, Kate headed to get the Martian. Kara quickly double tapped the pin on her shoulder and her outfit transformed. That's when Gemma popped out of a base of a light standard, which surprised Kara, unaware that she could do that. The top portion of the light falls into the road and smashes the glass and light bulb.

"There you are!" Gemma hissed.


	17. Chapter 17

"You ruined everything!" Gemma used her electrokinesis and shot bolts of electricity out of hands at the blonde. Supergirl dodged the shot and sent her heat vision in the Jarhanpurian's direction. Gemma was able to dodge just as well.

"You were going to kill billions of people! Did you think I would just stand by? Did you think my friends would just stand by?" The blonde wanted to know as another shot of electricity just missed her.

"You will when I kill you!" Gemma wasn't going to listen to reason. It was her way or the highway.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" J'onn appeared above Gemma and dove at her, bombarding her with garbage from the street using his telekinesis. This opened up a chance for Kara to hit Gemma with her heat vision. The Jarhanpurian screamed out in pain. Despite being outnumbered, she knew she had no backup and that this may be the only opportunity to fight the two without the rest of the team. Surging her power, Gemma blasted electricity out of her entire body, knocking J'onn out of the sky and Kara back onto her backside. That's when Kara heard the unmistakable sound of her friend and one of the toys she carried on her. The metal object sailed through the air and caught Gemma right in the shoulder. The former blonde cried out and Kara took her opportunity. The Kryptonian flew at her enemy and knocked her down. Kara landed a punch to the same spot where the Batarang had embedded itself. Gemma screamed out so loudly that nearby windows shattered. Then she was gone.

"How in the heck did she do that?" Kate asked, as she helped Kara up from the ground.

"It's called technokinesis. Gemma can physically interact with technology and it allows her to manipulate it however she chooses. My guess is that the underground electric lines allowed her to make an escape," J'onn spoke up. He'd picked himself up and dusted himself off.

"That would explain why she knew to come here. Is your computer system air gapped?" Kate wanted to know, not sure how she'd started to sound like Luke.

"Yes, mostly. Its only connection is to the DEO database and satellites, which are on a secret government network, and massively encrypted. It's not like I called Verizon up and got an internet connection," J'onn said.

"I believe you. The Bat Computer is air gapped, so I figured I'd ask," Kate said.

"Even the computer has a bat nickname?" Kara raised an eyebrow.

"That's what Luke says," Kate shrugged. Her friend chuckled.

"You bring up a good point though. Perhaps just because the computers are separate, people's phones are not," J'onn said.

"That would just take a cell phone tower but then she'd need someone's phone number…" Kara let the thought hang there.

"How would she do that? She doesn't know anyone's identity, does she?" Kate wanted to know.

"If she knows that, we could all be in danger," J'onn said.

"All right. Contact M'gann and see if she's still with Nia, if not get ahold of her. I'll head over to Lena's lab and call Alex when I get there," Kara started.

"Drop me at Alex's. Then you go to Lena. Alex can't defend herself and Lena at least has some toys to keep her safe," Kate said without thinking about how her friend would need to carry her.

"I like that plan better," the blonde said. J'onn had just finished his mental connection to M'gann. He was relieved to find out that the White Martian was staying with Nia, making sure she actually got some sleep and had promised to keep the young woman safe.

"Nia and M'gann have been informed. I'll head to Alex's with Kate. Go," the Martian said. Kara nodded and was gone.

"Glad you're taking me, that was probably going to be awkward," Kate said, picturing Kara holding her in her arms while flying. _Ok, so maybe not so awkward_ , she thought. J'onn smirked. Kate had forgotten he could hear thoughts.

"Come on, we'll make sure that Alex and Kelly are safe," the Martian said. He took hold of Kate's shoulder and they were gone.

"Holy… hell…!" Alex almost fell off the couch after J'onn and Kate just landed in her living room.

"Sorry," Kate got to her and carefully made sure she was ok.

"Where's Kelly?" J'onn immediately grew concerned.

"Still… at… work," Alex managed.

"I'll check on her," with that the Martian was gone. Kate quickly explained that something was off.

"Lex… knows… Kara's… identity," Alex told her.

"Could he have told Gemma? Or maybe he sic'd Gemma on her," Kate was beginning to worry. Alex shrugged and immediately regretted it. The Gothamite went to her and gently checked the redhead's sides.

"Doesn't seem like you did any more damage, but we need to be careful," Kate said. Alex nodded.

"Batwoman, I'm with Kelly and William. They have something that explains a lot," J'onn radioed in via the comms.

"Well get them over here if you can. Alex and I have a nasty theory of our own," Kate told him.


	18. Chapter 18

Kara checked in on Lena and Brainy and everything was quiet but somehow that didn't give the Maiden of Might any comfort. Lena could tell that her friend was uneasy. She didn't blame her – Gemma's technokinesis made her nervous too.

"Everything is good over here, but Kelly and William have something as do Alex and Batwoman," it was J'onn over the comms.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving Lena and Brainy without any backup," Kara admitted.

"Understandable. Can you call in a friend?" It was J'onn's code for Clark. Kara nodded even though he couldn't see her.

"On it," she promised.

"What's going on?" Lena asked.

"Seems Kelly and William have a theory as do Alex and Batwoman. Lots of info flying around and I don't want to leave you alone. Gemma could come through the cords or the computer or whatever is attached to the electricity grid," Kara said.

"We can shut the grid feed down to the lab. I have a generator that I can run on. It was meant for this to become a bit of a shelter should things get hairy in the outside world," Lena just said that like it was no big deal.

"You air gapped the entire lab?" Her friend was surprised.

"When you're a Luthor, you over plan," Lena smirked.

"Do you need help doing that before I get Superman to help out?" Kara wanted to know.

"Nope. The panel is right here in the lab," Lena walked over to the wall and flicked open a metal panel revealing a breaker box. She flicked off the lab on the man control. The lights went off along with the machines monitoring Brainy. A few more flicks of breakers and everything came back up. Kara could hear the hum of a generator above them.

"How much fuel do you have?" The blonde wondered if she'd run out and the generator would shut off.

"It runs on natural gas. The backup generator runs on diesel. We'll be good," Lena promised. Kara nodded and then quickly exited the lab via the open window. Once outside, she used the comms to reach Clark and he promised to be right there.

"All right, what's going on?" Kara asked, landing on the balcony at Alex's apartment, where the door was open.

"Well Kelly never let on that she knew so many superheroes for starters," William said.

"Well she's a special lady and we trust her. Just as we are trusting you," Kara smiled.

"Right, well I think I came up with something that may help finding Andrea," he told the group.

"Ok, go for it," J'onn encouraged.

"Andrea had a lot of closed-door meetings with Gemma. Now her office is a complete disaster area, and no one can find her. No one can find Gemma either and as far as I know, Lex took a powder as well," William started.

"We know that Lex is probably out there working with Gemma but Andrea…" Kara wanted to get him up to speed.

"I did a deep dive on Andrea, wondering if she had something that she didn't want out in public. Well needless to say, there are skeletons in the closet," William opened up his laptop and pulled up some photos. That's when they all saw Gemma and Andrea together, somewhere which was not National City.

"Now Andrea's family has always had money so maybe no one seemed to notice how almost overnight the family business went from being completely in the red to completely in the black. No apparent loans from any bank and no explanation how it all happened. There was a pretty good case to be made that Andrea's father was about to be arrested for insider trading, but that case just vanished much like the debt," he said.

"So, they paid someone off or had connections," Kate spoke up, still glad she was wearing her costume.

"That's what I thought but basically most of Bernardo Rojas' friends had jumped ship like rats do as the ship is going down. One of his business partners was going to testify to the insider trading. Then the business partner ends up dead with his neck snapped clean through," William explained.

"Rip Roar," Kara murmured. That name was only familiar to J'onn, Alex, Kelly, and herself. Since Rip Roar's death occurred prior to the Crisis, William would not know who he was since his memories were not restored.

"Who's that?" He asked.

"A Leviathan assassin. He was murdered by Leviathan when he disobeyed their orders and Andrea tried to help him get away from their grasp. It explains why Andrea would work with Gemma. They're both part of Leviathan," Kara said.

"Leviathan would have enough pull to make all of her father's problems disappear but we kind of figured she was in on Leviathan since she popped up at Lena's and tried to kill you," J'onn said.

"So, Shadow Lady is working for the bad guys. Gemma is the only one on the loose so we're guessing that Andrea is hiding. Hiding would be easier given her talents thanks to that medallion," Kate spoke up.

"You guys seem to know quite a bit. Was I wasting my time?" William asked.

"Hardly, we now know that almost from the time Andrea found the medallion, she's been in Leviathan's back pocket. We need to track her every move since leaving Buenos Aires all those years ago," Kara smiled.

"Ah good thing I've already done that," William smiled. He went into his satchel and pulled out a printed list. Kate took it and went over the list, being a world traveler prior to her Batwoman days she recognized quite a few places.

"She traveled a lot," Kat said handing the list to J'onn.

"Using business as a cover, they were probably all Leviathan trips," Kelly spoke up.

"I was thinking the same thing. She might have built relationships with people in these places and has gone somewhere. I need to see if I can use my mind to reach out to her, since our other leads dried up," J'onn disappeared with the list in hand.

"How? What?" Kate didn't know what he meant.

"Tell you later. What was your and Alex's nasty thought?" Kara asked.

"Lex sic'd Gemma on you given his penchant for wanting to rid the earth of you and Superman," Kate said without blowing Kara's cover in front of William. The Gothamite raised her eyebrows up and down.

"I'll be glad when he's in jail," Kara clenched her fists.

"Oh, you and everyone else here sister," Kate smirked.


	19. Chapter 19

J'onn had been unable to find Andrea. Either the medallion was blocking his powers, or she was somewhere that he just could not reach. He suggested they start their search of the locations that William had found in the morning. Kara said she was heading back to the lab and Kate told her that she'd join her. The blonde wanted to object but she wasn't about to turn down help or a chance to hang out with her friends, despite the situation.

"Thanks, Kal," Kara smiled at him when she and Kate arrived.

"Sure, no problem. Keep me looped in, in case you need more help," he smiled. They hugged quickly and then he was gone.

"I'm still not used to that," Kate said. She had changed out of her cape and cowl prior to leaving Alex's place. The two ladies had taken a cab to get to Lena's in order to not draw attention to themselves.

"The flying?" Kara asked.

"Yeah. I mean before all of this, we didn't have to worry about outer space. Now… I wouldn't change anything but I'm just saying it adds a whole different dimension to crime fighting," the Gothamite admitted as the three ladies sat down on some comfy chairs that Lena had had moved into the lab.

"Stronger heroes bring with them bigger villains. You're in the crime fighting business?" Lena asked. Kate had forgotten that the Luthor did not know what her night job was.

"Well Dad owns the Crows, so things are different back home than they are here," Kate said.

"So, how'd you and Kara meet?" Lena asked.

"I had to help the Flash and Green Arrow a couple years ago and we ended up in Gotham," Kara said.

"Kind of got themselves in trouble with the GCPD and I bailed them out," Kate smiled.

"Kara? Getting herself into trouble? I mean really," Lena teased. Kara had a fake look of shock on her face.

"Right? Well when Oliver Queen's name came up, I figured I'd better bail out all three of them," the brunette said.

"That was nice of you. I think sometimes that I would not have the self-control that Kara does. I mean she could have bent the bars and gotten all three of them out with little trouble," the raven-haired woman said.

"That would have brought more attention than I think they wanted. Of course, when I watched Kara take a bullet and keep moving, I figured something was up," Kate winked. Lena nodded seeming satisfied that Kara hadn't told Kate about her identity before the woman in front of her. Another slippery slope but they'd tackle that one later. As it was, Kate was wondering how the Luthor hadn't figured it out. Perhaps Lena was just waiting to see how the entire conversation went.

"So, what brought you to National City?" Lena wanted to know.

"Thought I'd come for a visit. Things at home are a little hairy right now so I thought a few days away would help clear my head and give me chance to hang out," Kate smiled.

"I get that. I've been trying to figure out where Lex could be hiding, with little success. In this post-Crisis world, I have no idea where all of his hiding places could be," Lena admitted.

"I heard J'onn mention that earlier. Seems like all sorts of things are topsy-turvy huh?" The brunette asked.

"Quite. My mother is not in jail, so I have to wonder if she is now helping him. Problem is, even in this world, my mother has a vast network of places that are kept off the books," Lena shook her head.

"Everything still seems out of reach. We can't find Andrea and we can't find Lex. I'm not sure how things got to be this way. Is Brainy at least getting better?" Kara spoke up.

"I think Doctor Rodgers treatment idea is working. His vitals are improving and so has his color. I haven't attempted to bring him out of his unconscious state yet. He is probably healing better the way he is," the raven-haired woman explained.

"Excellent to hear. I'm not sure how we'd make it without him," the blonde said. There was a beep on one of the computers and Lena excused herself to go check on it.

"That was close," Kara whispered. Kate could only nod before Lena came back.

"I just lost the exterior cameras downstairs…" Lena half said it to herself, not really announcing to the others. Another beep came and her eyes grew bigger and that made Kara and Kate come up to her.

"We lost the elevator…" Lena said. Some of the important circuits to the important equipment such as the security cameras and the elevator were backed up by the generator and allowed the occupants of the lab to keep an eye on the outside world.

"Someone is coming this way and I have a pretty good idea who it is," Kara said before she quickly tapped her gold pin. Her Supergirl outfit materialized and looked around the room, trying to figure out how the enemy could jump the air gap.

"Lena, is there a back door here?" Kate asked.

"There is an escape route down the back stairs but I'm not leaving Brainy," she said.

"I would never ask you to, but we may need a way out if this gets ugly," the brunette said. Lena nodded understanding that the front door may be out of the question. Kara looked over to her friend and Kate nodded. She had her suit, but it was in her bag and there wasn't time to get it on. However, that didn't mean she couldn't use some of the tricks that resided in her belt.

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door. Kara tried her x-ray vision, and she could see who was attempting to break down the door. It was a Lexosuit.

"We've got a Lexosuit out there," Kara announced before quickly tapping her cape, activating her Kryptonite-proof helmet.

"When I get my hands on Lex, I will kill him," Lena said. Kate ignored the comment, not sure if she really meant it. Then Lena went over to a drawer and pulled out a gun. Kate made a mental note to not piss off the raven-haired woman. Just as that thought passed thru her head, the Lexosuit bashed its way through the door. Kara caught it and the fight was on.


	20. Chapter 20

Kara punched the suit and sent it back the way it came. She tried to x-ray the suit but quickly discovered that the lead in the complex circuits made a clear vision of who was in it impossible. The Lexosuit charged again and Kara was able to dodge before blasting it with her laser vision.

Lena had moved over to Brainy. The machines told her that his vitals were strong enough to unplug things if need be. However, the decision was made for her when the power suddenly went out.

"Come on, time to go," Kate said arriving at her side after artfully dodging the fighting and blasting that Kara and the Lexosuit were doing.

"Can we carry the gurney?" Lena gave her a look.

"Doubtful but we can carry Brainy. He's mostly not radioactive right?" Kate wondered. The silence from Lena was almost deafening. Again they didn't get the time as the lights suddenly came back up, only to reveal Gemma in her original form. No longer did the human façade exist and what would be the purpose now anyway.

Kara whirled around and saw that she was now outnumbered. Kate could see the look on her face and knew that there was no hiding her identity at this point. So she turned to Lena and told her to call for backup. The raven-haired woman nodded and pulled out her cell phone. Kate then emerged from her hiding spot next to Brainy. Without her suit she had little protection but she felt like she couldn't leave Kara to fight alone.

"Die Kryptonian!" Gemma blasted her electric energy from her fingertips. Kara managed to avoid her blast but the Lexosuit took advantage and blasted her with the Kryptonite cannons. Lena's adjusted suit protected Kara but there was still pain from the shot. Kate realized that she had not drawn any attention and went running across the room to where she'd dropped her duffel bag. Again, no time for the suit but the batarangs and her collapsible staff would certainly be of use. She slid down and grabbed the bag, opening it up, she got what she needed and just in time. Gemma was lining up another shot at Kara when Kate called out,

"Hey ugly! Pick on someone your own size!" It was an insane comment but it was only meant to distract, which it did. Gemma turned her head and promptly caught a batarang in the chest. The Jarhanpurian screamed, shattering anything that was glass nearby. Kara whirled on the Lexosuit and landed a punch right to the facemask. The glass protecting the wearer had been weakened by Gemma's scream and could not then withstand a blow from a Kryptonian.

"Lex!" Kara's anger began to rise.

"You really think I'd just disappear?" There was that smirk on his face. Kara punched him again, this time in the gut. Lex flew back, smacking the wall. The suit withstood the blow but there was now a fist sized dent in it. Gemma let out another howl and Kara turned to see a second batarang buried in the alien's shoulder. Kate was holding her own.

"Need some help?" J'onn had arrived, right in between the two fighting pairs.

"Time to take out the trash," Kate smirked and the Martian turned his focus to the wounded Gemma. She knew what was coming next as he approached her.

Kara called out as Lex blasted her in the back with his Kryptonite cannon. She caught herself before she fell and whirled on him. Before she could retaliate, the unmistakable sound of a batarang was picked up by her ears. The metal boomerang pierced the Lexosuit and Lex looked down at it like "that was dumb" but the look faded as the batarang beeped and exploded. Lex cried out and went down. With his face exposed, hot metal shards went into the suit and into his skin. Kara pounced, quickly pinning him to the floor. She then ripped the Lexosuit apart, exposing the Luthor within.

"Supergirl!" Kate had gone back to her bag and tossed a pair of batcuffs to the blonde. Kara handcuffed Lex around an exposed wall stud from the Lexosuit's earlier crash into the wall. The two then turned their attention to J'onn and Gemma. The two were battling it out and the Martian seemed like he was winning. One of Gemma's electrical energy shots passed through J'onn as he changed his density just in time. Kara could tell it was heading toward Kate and knew the brunette would not survive a shot like that without her batsuit. The blonde launched from her feet and into the air. It was a race that Kara had to win.


	21. Chapter 21

Kate felt this weight hitting her like a ton of bricks. The room suddenly seemed to shift and she found herself looking at the ceiling instead of what was going on in front of her. She looked down and saw that Kara had landed on top of her.

"Are you ok?" The blonde asked. Kate was a little stunned but nodded as her friend lifted herself off of her. Kara then helped her to her feet.

"Are you ok?" Kate asked, not sure what had just happened.

"My old suit might have caught fire but this one seems to have taken the shot," Kara smiled and then quickly headed back to help J'onn. Kate noticed there was a char mark on her cape, squarely between her friend's shoulders, telling her all she needed to know.

"Sorry I'm late!" M'gann suddenly materialized, holding the Phantom Zone Projector. Both J'onn and Kara stepped back and the White Martian fired the Projector. Gemma screamed as she was sucked into the Phantom Zone.

"Glad that's over," M'gann smiled.

"Thanks for rushing over," J'onn smiled back.

"Is everyone ok?" The White Martian was concerned that her side trip to the Tower might have cost someone something.

"I think we're good, though I caught one of Gemma's shots to the back. The nanites might be fried over there," Kara admitted. Everyone expected Lena to chime in but instead they heard Kate trying to talk someone down. The three turned around to see Lena pointing her nine millimeter at her brother.

"Lena, put it down. You don't want to do that," the brunette tried.

"She doesn't have the balls to do it again," Lex was goading her.

"She did it once, I wouldn't test her," Kara said as she came over. The two Martians were right behind her.

"Lena, I'm sure he deserved it before, as you might think he does now but just put the weapon down. We have him on helping Gemma. She tried to kill billons of people. He's going to jail," Kate tried, hoping she was reaching her. The Gothamite had no idea that the Luthor woman had shot her brother before but she guessed from the conversation it was prior to Crisis since Lex was still alive.

Kara put a hand on Lena's shoulder and the raven-haired woman turned her head toward her friend. The blonde gave her a slight smile and stuck her hand out. Lena handed her the gun.

"I'll be taking out the trash," J'onn went over to Lex and hauled him up off the floor. Using his powers, he snapped the metal stud, and M'gann quickly joined him. The two disappeared with the Luthor in hand.

"I'm sorry…" Lena was obviously struggling to manage everything going on in her head.

"You were only trying to make sure he didn't get away. Trust me, J'onn and M'gann will make sure he lands in a jail cell," Kara then pulled her friend into a one-armed hug while Kate took the gun away from her other hand.

"So is it over?" Kate asked once Kara and Lena separated.

"No. We know that Lex wanted Gemma to destroy me and then probably Kal but we don't know what he intended to do once Gemma had succeeded. While having the Jarhanpurians kill us, he had to have a plan for getting rid of Gemma. He didn't like her or her cohorts any more than we did," Kara said, concerned that there was some booby trap or weapon that someone else could get their hands on.

"First person to visit would be my mother. She probably helped him," Lena pointed out.

"Well we'll track her down in the morning. Right now we need to make sure that Brainy is ok and move him somewhere. The lab is no longer safe," the blonde said. They all agreed but had no idea where they could take Brainy. With the DEO building destroyed, he needed round the clock care and somewhere with access to medical machines.

"You think Doctor Rodgers would mind if I woke him up?" Kara wondered.

"Call him," Lena nodded and tossed the blonde her cell phone. While Kara was on the phone, Lena turned to Kate.

"Your Dad owns the Crows huh?" She was waving a loose batarang that she'd found.

"Well he does. He just doesn't know what I do with my spare time…" Kate said, sort of embarrassed, why she didn't know.

"Your secret is safe with me," Lena smiled.

"I appreciate that. I want us to be friends," Kate smiled back.

"A friend of Kara's is a friend of mine," Lena said.

"So Doctor Rodgers will be here as soon as he can and we'll need to help him move Brainy," Kara interrupted them.

"I'll see about prepping him for transport," the Luthor said.

"Should I get my suit on?" Kate asked, wondering if it was a little too late for that.

"Doctor Rodgers has only seen you in the suit. It might be prudent," Kara smiled. Kate nodded and the blonde went to help Lena.


	22. Chapter 22

Kara and Kate entered the former's apartment about an hour later, now in their street clothes. Brainy was in capable hands at a facility that Doctor Rodgers trusted. It was a small DEO substation that had been deactivated as an active post but was now used for storage. So Lena could get some sleep, the good Doctor contacted some of his cohorts who quickly jumped into help.

Kate collapsed on the couch. It had been a long day and there were still a few hurdles to jump over before everything was cleaned up. She noticed that Kara was texting someone and she wondered if it was Alex.

"You feeling ok? I didn't want to squash you or anything earlier," Kara asked after she stopped texting.

"You totally took me by surprise but I don't think there's anything more than a few bruises. I mean I'd be dead if that shot hit me," Kate said. The blonde said down next to her.

"That was pretty close. I guess I can add faster than electricity onto my repertoire of powers," Kara smirked.

"Does Barry know you're faster than him?" The brunette suddenly asked. Kara laughed before replying,

"He probably doesn't want to admit it but I did beat him in a race." Her whole face lit up with her smile and Kate found her mind wandering to where it had been earlier. Shaking her head, as if to clear those thoughts, the Gothamite said,

"That had to be something. I have to admit – there really isn't anything you can't do."

"Well I definitely could not have defeated the Anti-Monitor on my own. Fighting crime can be a lonely business. Having a team is really great. We've become a little family," Kara smiled. Kate nodded. While it had been great to have Mary and Luke helping out, Kate was still alone in the field. Kara had the help of Alex, J'onn, Brainy, M'gann, and Nia with Lena and the DEO helping out behind the scenes. The brunette still had no idea on how to break the news to her father or even if she should.

"I think we better get some sleep. Tomorrow will be another long day," Kara said after they lapsed into silence for a few minutes.

"Probably right," Kate nodded, not really wanting to get off the couch. It was comfy and she was definitely more tired than she'd realized. The adrenaline had worn off and the direct threat seemed to be over. Kara's phone jingled and she looked at it.

"Who is up at this hour? I can't imagine Kelly appreciating you waking up Alex," Kate gave her a look.

"I just gave William the scoop. He's going to try and get the news of Lex's arrest out with our morning posts. He keeps wanting to know why I don't want the scoop. I told him Supergirl was thankful for his help and wanted him to have the story," the blonde said.

"Still trying to figure out if you can be honest with him?" The brunette wondered.

"How can I be? Hi William, so I'm really Supergirl and I'm an alien? Lena went off the deep end when I told her. We just now finally came back to where we were before. Another thing Lex started," Kara huffed.

"I like Lex even less every time I find out more about him," Kate shook her head.

"He was trying to put a wedge between us so that Lena would join him. She shot him instead. If the Monitor hadn't brought him back to life, Lena might have gone past the point of no return. For a long time I wasn't sure that we could save our friendship. I don't want that happening to William. I don't want to put him in danger. Everything was different with Mon-El. He and I could be us and there was no need for any secrets or concerns about either one of us being hurt because of our relationship," the blonde admitted.

"Well I've been told that if something is worth doing, it's worth doing well. I suppose that follows with my Dad, except he tried to kill me. I'm not sure I can get over that," Kate huffed out a breath.

"We'll handle it together. As soon as we catch Lillian Luthor and try and find Andrea," Kara promised, lifting herself off the couch and offering a hand to her friend.

"Somehow I think that'll be harder than the first two," the brunette said regarding the tasks ahead as she took Kara's hand and hauled herself up off the couch.

"We're doing to them together," the blonde promised. She didn't want to admit that finding Lillian and Andrea were probably going to be an uphill battle. Kate couldn't run from Gotham for too long. They needed Batwoman. After wishing her friend a good night, Kara got to brainstorming.


	23. Chapter 23

The next morning the two ladies met up with J'onn, M'gann, and Nia at the Tower. M'gann had brought bagels and coffee which had made everyone happy. Nia was glad that Brainy was truly on the mend and wanted to help as much as she could.

"Seems William got the story out," J'onn pulled up the CatCo. magazine on his computer. The headline read " _Lex Luthor arrested! Charges of attempted murder, assault, and conspiracy to commit murder! He was part of the killer Obsidian Platinum program!_ " The smaller text said " _Supergirl, Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, and Batwoman send his alien helper off planet before bringing in the diabolical Luthor._ "

"He sure has a way with words," Kate said.

"He does do excellent work. Now I'm guessing this will bring Lillian out of her hidey hole," J'onn said.

"I'd be willing to bet that is true. When Lex gets arraigned this morning, she'll try to bail him out," Kara agreed.

"I think M'gann and I should be there to see if she shows up," J'onn admitted.

"A good plan. We just need to find Andrea," Nia said.

"That is going to be a bit trickier. J'onn were you able to find Andrea on any flight manifests?" Kara asked. The list that William had found had given them places to look but with Obsidian Platinum's downfall, everyone would be looking for the owner of the program.

"No. She would normally fly with her private plane but that hasn't left the gate either. The DEO alerted the FBI and they are currently searching every asset that Andrea has," he said.

"Maybe we should let the FBI do their work. She might pop up in an attempt to hide from them," M'gann suggested.

"She doesn't know how to be on the run or fly under the radar. I mean she literally created a program that lets people disappear into virtual reality. With no one left to turn to, she has to know that her devices are being tracked," Kate spoke up.

"You're right. While she's probably run secret missions for Leviathan, she literally has no back up and no off-grid way of communicating with anyone," Kara nodded. Her phone rang and she quickly picked it up. The others waited for her to get off the phone before continuing their conversation.

"That was William. The FBI is raiding CatCo. This is not good," the blonde said.

"Since Andrea owns CatCo. and Obsidian North, they'll be seized as assets. There is about to be a bunch of people out of work unless there is someone who is appointed as a receiver of the business," Kate spoke up.

"I have a fantastic idea," Kara smiled.

"I think I know where you're going with this," Nia couldn't help but smile as well. Everyone looked at Kate.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the brunette said.

"You turned Wayne Enterprises around. The FBI would look favorably at that," J'onn said.

"How am I going to explain that to the board of Wayne Enterprises? I mean let's not kid ourselves. They will not be happy with me running willy nilly offering up the company's services," Kate wasn't so sure about that.

"You don't have to. Just go on the record and announce you'd be willing to help," Kara said.

"With everyone's favorite Pulitzer winner, Kara Danvers?" Kate gave her a look.

"It'll be a heck of a scoop. Besides Wayne Enterprises will see it as a way to expand their empire and knock out some competition. You take control of Obsidian and you would have access to all of their tech. New Bat toys," the blonde teased. Her friend raised an eyebrow but nodded.

"Ok set it up. Let's make it splashy. Perhaps that will draw Andrew out for us," Kate said.

"Nia, can you reach our camera department and have them meet us out front of the building?" Kara wanted to know, seeing her friend on her phone.

"Already called for an Uber and I'm calling them now," Nia smiled.


	24. Chapter 24

"I'm outside at CatCo.'s world headquarters where the FBI has raided our offices looking for our owner Andrea Rojas. Her ownership and involvement with Obsidian Platinum and the arrest of Lex Luthor has caused utter chaos. I have no idea how much longer I have before we're all kicked out of our offices.

"We've all been shocked at the developments and now are in jeopardy of losing our jobs until Andrea is found or until the courts decide on someone to temporarily run the company. I spoke with Lena Luthor earlier, wondering if she'd be interested in helping the company she used to own. While Lena expressed her concern for the people at both CatCo. and Obsidian North, she did not want to interfere given the situation with her brother. The Luthor sister denounced his plans and said that if there was a way that she could help, she would, provided that the legal quagmire, which would only hold things up more in court, could be resolved quickly.

"She did suggest someone else however, Kate Kane, acting owner of Wayne Enterprises. I was able to speak to Miss Kane, only to find out that she was here in National City on business. Now joining me live is Kate Kane," Kara was glad this was going live but she could tell that Kate was nervous as she stepped into the camera frame.

"Miss Kane, you said that you'd be interested in acting as a receiver for CatCo. and Obsidian North?" Kara asked. Kate swallowed and answered,

"I would. In the interest of helping all those who could possibly lose their jobs, I would hate to see this world without CatCo. Their fair and honest reporting has been something that everyone can rely on and the great staff should not be punished for a few bad apples."

"While I'm sure my coworkers agree with you, Wayne Enterprises is not exactly the same thing as running a worldwide media conglomerate," Kara had to make it look good. As much as she wanted to ask her nothing but softball questions, she couldn't.

"No it is not, but I didn't know much about real estate or owning a bar at first, but both Gotham Pride Real Estate and The Hold Up are prospering and helping the community back home. I'm sure the more than competent staff would be willing to help me guide CatCo. until the case with Miss Rojas is settled or until a new owner is found. Plus, Lena Luthor has offered to be a sounding board, should I need it. She is willing to help in any way she can to show everyone that she is not like her brother," Kate handled the question fairly well.

"Well this reporter is glad that you're on our side. This has been Kara Danvers reporting," with that the live feed cut out. The blonde turned to the camera crew and thanked them for their help. The two men smiled and asked to shake Kate's hand. The brunette smiled and quickly obliged.

"So you think that was splashy enough?" Nia wondered once the camera crew had retreated to the building.

"We interrupted people's daily soap operas and game shows, and had it plastered on the side of the building and our website. If it doesn't catch Andrea's attention, I honestly don't know what will. Nice plug for your Gotham holdings," Kara winked at Kate.

"I figured it couldn't hurt. The more people see that I do, the more they might be willing to trust me. I called Wayne Enterprises lawyers and they say they'll be ready should the FBI reach out. They also said the board will be calling me later. You think Andrea will come looking for me now? Or would she go to you?" The brunette asked.

"Not sure to be honest," Kara admitted. They turned when they heard the main doors of CatCo.'s building open up.

"Kara Danvers, Nia Nal, we need to talk to you," it was two FBI agents who quickly flashed their badges. One was a tall male in a dark suit and FBI windbreaker with closely cropped brown hair. The other was a shorter woman with red hair who wore a dark gray pantsuit with her FBI windbreaker.

"About what?" Kara gave them a look.

"Andrea Rojas and what you know. All CatCo. and Obsidian North employees are currently being questioned," the male agent said.

"I'll catch up with John and Megan and talk to you guys later," Kate promised, using J'onn and M'gann's human names. Kara nodded and gave her a quick smile before turning her focus to the two FBI agents. Kate whipped out her cell phone and called J'onn.

"Kara and Nia just got sidetracked by the FBI but I think the announcement went well," she told him.

"Good because our court date was a bust. Since they expected trouble, Lex was arraigned first thing in the morning and Lillian didn't show up," the Green Martian seemed disappointed.

"So he didn't make bail?" Kate wondered.

"The judge denied him bail," J'onn said.

"Wow," the brunette was surprised.

"The judge probably figured the attempted murder charges were enough to make him public enemy number one if he let Lex have bail," he said.

"Good point. I'm heading back now," Kate told him. J'onn was about to answer when he suddenly heard another voice on the other end of the line,

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Kate?!" The Green Martian heard the phone line go dead.


	25. Chapter 25

Kara heard J'onn's shout from the phone and turned her head. Kate's phone was on the ground and the brunette was nowhere that a human eye could see. Using her x-ray vision, she saw that Kate was in the alley, between the nearby buildings, fighting with someone. Not able to just leave the FBI agent who was trying to ask her questions, the blonde wondered what to do.

"Ma'am, please, what was your day-to-day interaction with Miss Rojas?" The man, FBI agent Murdoch, asked. Luckily, she didn't have to answer his question as there was a shout from the alley, distracting the agents. Probably because J'onn had arrived, not sure what had happened to Kate when they were on the phone. The agents rushed over to the alley.

"Freeze!" they had their weapons drawn.

"It's all good agents," J'onn spoke up. Kara and Nia had rushed up behind them.

"What was going on?" The agents asked as they were completely confused. The alley only held the Manhunter and Kate. They did, however, holster their weapons.

"I'm afraid that shadow monster is still on the loose. It seemed to think that Miss Kane was a good target," J'onn said.

"Glad that you were nearby. Thanks," Kate smiled. She quickly scooped up her phone off the sidewalk, internally praying that it wasn't broken from the fall from her hand to the ground.

"There's a shadow monster?" The female, FBI agent Hernandez, asked.

"So far we've been unable to trap it. It's been responsible for a string of muggings and possibly a few break-ins," the Martian lied.

"Hard to capture something that hides in the dark," Murdoch said.

"Exactly. Not sure if it's an alien we haven't come across or if it's some sort of new technology. We'll find whoever it is," J'onn told them.

"Give Supergirl our best," Hernandez said.

"Will do. Keep up the good work," with that J'onn took to the skies.

"I think we better make sure our friend gets to her destination safely," Kara said to the agents.

"First, give us your phone numbers in case we have any more questions. Then we'll wait with you until you get a cab, just in case this thing comes back," Murdoch told them. The ladies quickly obliged while Kate tried to hail a cab using a loud whistle and her hand up in the air. It didn't take long for a cabbie to pull up. The agents made sure that they got in the cab and then headed back inside. Nia gave the driver the address to J'onn's office.

"You ok?" Kara asked Kate.

"Yeah. She totally jumped me. We have to figure out how to stop her from doing that," the brunette kept her voice low. The blonde mouthed 'Andrea' and Kate nodded. Nia picked up her phone and called Doctor Rodgers to check in on Brainy, allowing the much quieter conversation between her friends to remain unnoticed by the driver.

"I have an idea but that means going back to Leviathan's Lair," Kara said.

"Oh boy," Kate wasn't sure she liked that. Despite the fact that all the members of Leviathan seemed to be safely sent to the Phantom Zone, that place gave Kate the creeps.

A few minutes later, the cabbie pulled up to J'onn's office and the ladies piled out of the car, Kate making sure to nicely tip the driver. The three quickly headed into the building where they were met by J'onn.

"You guys ok? That was a close one," the Martian said.

"I think so and I guess we can say that Andrea didn't leave town," Kate said.

"No, she did not. Where she's been hiding and how she's been doing it, I'm not sure. We have something that might help us bring her out," he told them. The group headed to the elevator and entered the vertical vehicle.

"Other than using Kate as bait?" Nia asked as they climbed up the Tower.

"Yes, that was not fun without my suit," the brunette admitted.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kara asked her Martian friend as they exited the elevator.

"The only thing that I can think of is the Staff of the Shadow World. Of course, Rama Khan was using it, but I don't remember seeing it with him when we zapped him into the Phantom Zone," J'onn said.

"How will that draw her out?" Nia wanted to know.

"It won't but it will weaken her powers. Maybe enough to slap some inhibiting cuffs on her and go from there," he explained.

"That's something but bringing her out?" Kara asked.

"Well, I'm afraid that's where you come in," M'gann spoke up. She'd been patiently waiting for them upstairs, doing some research.

"Me?" Kara asked.

"Supergirl is going to call Andrea out, with the help of Nia, on live TV," the White Martian said.

"Ah so today's little show struck a nerve, so you think that it'll work again," Kate said.

"I don't see why not. Our bigger problem is that Lillian Luthor has yet to come up for air," J'onn spoke up.

"Yes, that is a problem," Nia frowned.

"Well one thing at a time. M'gann and Nia head back to Leviathan's Lair. See if you can find the Staff of the Shadow World. If it's not there, then we'll have to come up with something else," Kara said.

"I think I have an idea for a backup plan," Kate smiled.


	26. Chapter 26

Kara stood on the balcony of the Tower waiting, worrying, and watching. They had attempted to draw out Andrea for a second time, telling her to come to an empty building up the street, to give herself up but so far nothing. Kate had stayed inside the Tower, not wanting to be caught out in the open. Besides, she'd been working with J'onn on her idea and the two had almost everything complete.

The Staff of the Shadow World had indeed been left behind at Leviathan's Lair. M'gann and Nia had returned not long after their trip to the secret hiding place. Once back, M'gann had called up Lena and the two had been working to see if they could figure out where Lillian Luthor could be hiding.

"I've seen that look before," Nia said, making her friend turn from her spot on the balcony and look at her. The human-Naltorian hybrid moved closer to Kara and gave her a slight smile.

"There are still a lot of hurdles here. This afternoon might have been our best shot at capturing Andrea and now I'm not so sure," Kara admitted.

"Well Brainy is awake and talking thanks to Doctor Rodgers and his team. I have to thank everyone for their help when this is all over," Nia brought the blonde up to speed on the Coluan's condition.

"That is great news! I'm so glad that Brainy was able to pull through. He had us all worried for a second," Kara smiled and pulled her friend into a hug.

"Still doesn't explain his behavior and what the heck he was thinking," Nia was still concerned.

"That will have to be a talk we have when this is all over. He's still acting DEO chief. Although I have to wonder who's been running the show with headquarters gone and Lex now under arrest," admittedly, the group had been preoccupied with Leviathan.

"I asked Doctor Rodgers about that. He said that he received word from Agent Smith that the deactivated substation will be reactivated for the time being until a new headquarters can be secured. Smith will also be in charge until this whole Lex issue is cleared up," Nia explained.

"Good. Agent Smith is quite a capable guy and I know that he'll run a tight ship until Brainy can get back on his feet," Kara smiled.

"Maybe Alex will think of rejoining?" Her friend wondered.

"I'm not sure. Once those broken ribs are better, she'll have to think about it. I mean I get her quitting. I couldn't stand working for Lex either, especially since he knew my secret. Now that his true personality has come to light, the DEO will have a lot of issues with public trust. Perhaps having Alex back might help to smooth things over," the blonde said.

"Well, it seems we're having a party out here and I wasn't invited," Kate teased from the doorway.

"A party? Is that what we're doing?" Kara smirked.

"Well parties usually involve more than one person. Although it would seem that both of you are missing a good stiff drink," the Gothamite pointed out.

"I think we'll all need one once this is over," Nia said.

"Oh agreed. I heard back from Luke. All quiet on the Western Front back home. Nothing that the Crows haven't been able to handle. Alice seems to still be underground, which has me wondering what she's up to," Kate explained.

"Well, that's good for now. Any luck with your idea?" Kara asked.

"J'onn and I think we're all done. Only way to find out now is to actually use it," the brunette said.

"We might have to try something else to get Andrea to come out," Nia frowned. Kara suddenly held her finger up. Kate looked at Nia and the human-Naltorian hybrid pointed to her ear. Kate nodded. It would seem that Kara's super hearing was picking something up. The blonde said not a word but pointed down. It would seem the racket was coming from the first floor. Nia and Kate moved slowly back inside the building and Kate went for her suit, while Nia warned J'onn. Kara slowly flew over the balcony ledge to see if she could find the perpetrator inside the first floor of J'onn office.

"What exactly are you looking for?" Kara stood there, her fists on her waist, striking the classic pose. Andrea whirled around to see Supergirl out in the street. Her ability to move through the shadows had not tripped the alarm J'onn had on the first floor. For some reason, Andrea had been rifling through paperwork that was on the Martian's desk.

"I hope you didn't make too much of a mess," J'onn said as he exited the elevator, Nia, Kate, and the contraption that they'd been working on earlier, came out too.

"I don't want any trouble," Andrea said.

"A little late for that isn't it?" Batwoman asked. She watched as Kara let herself into the locked door. J'onn would need a new door handle.

"I would agree since you attacked Kate Kane on the street and we caught you rifling through personal paperwork," Kara said.

"Just give yourself up nice and easy and we can sort through all of this," J'onn said. That's when Kara noticed Nia had the Staff in her hands, it too must have made the elevator ride.

"What are you doing with that?" Andrea asked.

"Just a little insurance. No one needs to get hurt," Nia said. Realizing her powers were draining and that she was highly outnumbered, Andrea looked like she may give up. Then she decided that she wasn't about to listen to them. Perhaps she still had a way out. Well, she would have, if not for Kate's idea.

The brunette had seen the look on Andrea's face and knew what it meant. She was going to go down swinging. So quickly the Gothamite flicked a switch on the machine and incredibly bright light shot forth from the unit.

"There's nothing like seven hundred-thousand-watt candle to make you stop cursing the dark," she smirked and clicked a small button on the side of her cowl, which activated the light filtering lenses on the eye sockets of the suit. Kara squinted and looked around to notice the light generating unit had practically snuffed out all the shadows in the space.

"Now, don't make us ask again," J'onn said. He'd adjusted his eyes so that the light would not hurt him. Nia tossed a pair of glasses, similar to her own, to Kara and she quickly donned them so her super sensitive eyes would not be hurt. Andrea scowled but admitted defeat. Quickly, Nia slapped the inhibiting cuffs on her and kept the staff nearby. Kate shut the machine down and everyone could finally relax.

"Now what exactly where you looking for?" J'onn asked.


	27. Chapter 27

Andrea had been made to sit in a chair near the front door and was then cuffed to it around her ankle. She refused to answer her captor's questions and J'onn was half tempted to try and read her mind. Though he had to admit that his mental powers were struggling when it came to the former head of Obsidian North. M'gann gave him a look, knowing exactly what he was thinking. Sometimes the Martian bond was a great thing but sometimes like now, it just made her worry.

"Ok, let's try this again. What could John have that you could need? You needed it badly enough that you thought breaking in was your best plan. When you knew Supergirl was nearby," Kate tried to press Andrea. Again she just gave Batwoman a look and refused to answer. Kate looked over to Kara and the Kryptonian shook her head.

"Well we're getting nowhere, so why don't we just call the DEO, the FBI, and anyone else we can think of? I mean they can certainly take it from here," the blonde suggested.

"I'll make that phone call," M'gann smirked. She shifted her density and disappeared to the Tower to keep the call private. DEO would want first crack at Andrea and Agent Smith would be happy to hear the good news.

"So what is in that stack of papers?" Nia asked J'onn in a low tone from their spot near the desk Andrea had been rifling through.

"Nothing super important. Missing cats and dogs, a few women thinking their husbands are having affairs, and a missing briefcase," he admitted, in a matching tone.

"No government secrets then," she frowned.

"Certainly not," he shook his head.

"We're missing something," Nia said.

"I agree but we can figure out what that is once Andrea is in custody. She's not helping us anyway," J'onn told her. Nia nodded. Their joint thinking session was interrupted by the landline. J'onn thought it was cool and made him seem more like the private detectives in those noir films from the forties and fifties. He rarely handed out the number, however, since his cell phone was always the best way to reach him.

"Who could that be?" Kara asked. J'onn shrugged and answered the phone.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Why isn't anyone answering their cell phones?" It was Alex.

"Little busy at the moment. Must have misplaced it," J'onn didn't want Andrea to know who he was talking to.

"Get the news on," the redhead said. J'onn turned to Kara and pointed at his laptop. The blonde quickly booted it up and handed it to him. J'onn quickly pulled up a local news station and turned up the volume.

" _Breaking News! Lex Luthor has escaped from prison! No one knows how he did it but the guards found nothing but a perfectly round hole in the floor of his cell,_ " the reporter said as an image of a three foot round hole in the prison floor appeared on the screen. J'onn set the laptop down so everyone could see.

"Call you back," he said before hanging up on Alex before she could say any more. Kara's eyes went wide as the story continued.

" _The FBI is currently speaking to all the guards and inmates while NCPD has pulled Lena Luthor into headquarters. Lex's assets were frozen per order of the District Attorney but that doesn't mean his sister or mother didn't help him. Regrettably, Lillian Luthor has not been seen for at least a week. If anyone has seen either Lex or Lillian, they have been asked to call the number on your screen. Do not approach them on your own as they are considered dangerous,_ "

"Son of a…" Kate started.

"Seems Lillian was very busy while we couldn't find her," J'onn frowned. M'gann dropped down from above and found the room in a more somber mood than when she left it. Nia quickly explained.

"The DEO is on the way for Andrea. What about Lena?" M'gann wondered.

"Perhaps the safest place for Lena is where she's at. I would think Lex would come for her but not down at NCPD headquarters," Nia said.

"I think I'll make sure that she stays safe," Kara spoke up before heading for the door. Kate looked at J'onn, not sure that the blonde should go alone. If Lex showed up, everyone could bet he would have Kryptonite on him.  
"I'll go with her," J'onn said. He disappeared leaving Kate, M'gann, and Nia to keep an eye on Andrea.

"I've got a bad feeling about this. What do you know Andrea? We can't help you if you don't talk," Kate tried again.

"I made a deal. I'm sticking to it," finally some words but none that were overly helpful. Kate looked to her two cohorts – both of whom were frowning. Andrea wasn't looking for paperwork. The only person she could have made a deal with was Lillian. Leviathan was gone.

"You were looking for that canister, weren't you?" Kate gave her a look. Of course, Andrea had no idea it was no longer on this planet.

"You'll find out soon enough," Andrea had a smirk on her face and that made Kate wonder just what they had gotten themselves into.


	28. Chapter 28

The DEO arrived and hauled the former owner of Obsidian North off to a secure location about fifteen minutes later. They also took the Staff of the Shadow World and the machine that J'onn and Kate had built. Now Kate grabbed J'onn's laptop, sat down in one of the comfy chairs near the bookshelf, and started watching the news footage. She watched and rewound and watched and rewound and watched and rewound.

"What are you looking for?" Nia asked as she walked over to her friend.

"Back in the day, there was a tool that one of Gotham's famous criminals used to use. It cut perfectly round holes but usually in glass, not concrete," Kate explained.

"You think someone applied the same principal but for concrete?" M'gann wondered, looking up from the pile of files that J'onn had on his desk. She was wondering if he'd forgotten about something that Andrea could have been looking for.

"Yes but I'm struggling to see how they would get the device into the jail cell. What we probably aren't hearing from the news is that there's a tunnel somewhere that Lex used to get out. Can't let the other prisoners know there's a tunnel," the brunette pointed out, setting the laptop down on the coffee table before standing up.

"Yeah probably not the best idea. Now that Andrea is gone, should we swing by the prison?" Nia wondered.

"You still have that phone number of the FBI guys who were looking for Andrea?" Kate asked the human-Naltorian hybrid.

"I think so. Why?" Nia asked.

"This job doesn't call for Batwoman; it calls for Kate Kane, owner of Wayne Enterprises and almost receiver of Obsidian North," the Gothamite explained as she moved toward the elevator. It was time to change her clothes.

"Ah, your access to tech expertise. They already have Lena in custody though, checking with her. How do you want to play this?" M'gann wasn't sure how this would work. The White Martian's question made Kate stop from pressing the elevator button.

"I want to see if I could get a look at the hole, maybe some pictures. Then I talk to our tech department and have Kelly help me with what Obsidian North was working on. So I tell them that I might be able to identify what was used if I could see the crime scene. Tell them that Lex's connection to Obsidian North might have had extra benefits," Kate figured that would be enough to draw attention and maybe have the FBI let her in.

"Probably our best move. What do you want me to do? I don't see them letting in a reporter," Nia frowned.

"I think that you and M'gann should keep trying to figure out what Andrea was looking for and why she'd think that J'onn would leave it lying around in his office. I mean she had to know that he wouldn't leave the canister out where everyone and their brother could see it," the brunette said.

"I've been thinking about that," the White Martian spoke up.

"What have you come up with?" Kate asked.

"What if she wasn't looking for anything?" M'gann posed.

"Like she was pretending to look for something, just to get our attention?" Nia wondered.

"A distraction. Maybe she gets lucky and gets a few shots in before we subdue her," M'gann said.

"I could see that but who was she doing the distraction for? I mean Lex escapes and manages to make it here before someone at the prison notices he's missing?" Kate asked.

"Well we know that somehow Lillian was slipping out of our grasp. She wouldn't have access to minions? Someone else who wanted to see Lex out of jail?" M'gann pointed out.

"In this Earth, Lex has always been the golden boy… could be someone who doesn't believe that he'd do what the police are saying he did," Nia agreed. There could be more players at work.

"Sweep this place for bugs and anything else you can think of. I'll see about getting access to the hole Lex made in the prison floor," Kate said. She pressed the button on the elevator and got in when the doors opened. Nia came with, wanting to change out of her outfit as well.

"I have this feeling I can't get rid of," she admitted to Kate.

"Yeah me too, like we're three steps behind and have no idea what's next," the Gothamite said.

"Exactly. It's not a good feeling," Nia said. The elevator opened and the two quickly went about changing into their street clothes. Nia gave Kate the phone number and she quickly called FBI agent Murdoch.


	29. Chapter 29

"Thank you Miss Luthor. Again, I do apologize about all of this," Captain Flores of the National City Police said. He and Lena sat in his office, discussing her brother and her mother. It was a dreary space. Bland, faded green paint, old wooden furniture that looked like it had been banged into the door openings or filing cabinets on its way to its final destination. He had two windows but given their height on the building, the shades were drawn to keep out the direct sunlight. Now at this time of day, it was to keep out the night's chill.

"There is nothing to apologize for. I would talk to me too if the roles were reversed," Lena smiled. The chair she was sitting in was surprisingly comfortable despite the well-worn blue leather cushion.

"I was going to offer you protection but it would seem you have some of your own," he commented, noting that Supergirl and Martian Manhunter were outside his office in the bullpen with detectives, trying to help with the search for Lex and Lillian Luthor.

"Given what my brother has done, they were concerned I could be a target. As I said if I knew where he was, I'd give him up, but it's quite obvious that both he and my mother have been keeping things from me," Lena admitted.

"Yes, but you are a threat to them. If you give the FBI and NCPD access to Luthor Corp and thereby giving us access to the DEO, we're bound to find some trace that you were not aware of. As the CEO of Luthor Corp, you have access to everything but your knowledge of the day to day is a different story," Flores told her.

"I have nothing to hide. Please do what you must do to find my brother and mother. I could not live with myself if he's hurt her," Lena said. It wasn't totally true but the fact of the matter was she didn't know this version of her mother as well as the pre-Crisis mother. Things were much different here and Lex was a gifted liar. Of course, so was her pre-Crisis mother. She supposed some things would not have changed.

"Well I think I will let you go with your friends and give my FBI contact a call," with that the Captain stood up. Lena followed suit and they shook hands.

"Good luck," the raven haired woman said.

"Thanks, we'll need it," Flores heaved a sigh. Lena headed for the office door and walked out into the bullpen. Kara looked at her with a smile and then finished speaking to the detective about her thoughts on a possible hiding location for the Luthors.

"Ready to go?" J'onn asked.

"I'm guessing you're helping with my transport," Lena smirked. The Martian chuckled, put his hand on her shoulder and they disappeared, much to the amazement of the detectives. Kara excused herself and headed for the nearest open window.

Kate studied the hole in the floor of the prison cell. She continued to frown as she took pictures. Agent Murdoch was watching her and acting as her escort inside the prison.

"What are you thinking?" Murdoch asked.

"That whatever did this is something I need to get Wayne Enterprises working on. The slab is six inches thick and this tool just cut through it like butter. While we have military technology, I'm pretty sure I would have been briefed on this being in our arsenal," Kate admitted.

"So he probably designed it through the DEO don't you think? Seems like the average human shouldn't have access to something like this. I mean they'd be robbing banks left and right," Murdoch said.

"Agreed. The DEO is Lena's territory I'm afraid. I'll speak to my contacts at Obsidian North and see if they have anything in their records," the brunette promised.

"I have to admit, you're not what I expected," Murdoch spoke up, suddenly changing the subject.

"Is it the tattoos? Usually, that's what gets people," Kate was not going to brush him off.

"Well if you're looking for acting owner of a billion dollar company, yeah they're not what you'd expect. I was thinking more like how helpful you were. Far as I know, Bruce Wayne was never so helpful," the FBI agent explained.

"Bruce never turned down the GCPD if they needed help. I wasn't privy to anything else. Besides, isn't this an all hands on deck type situation? I mean somehow, a guy who was charged with that many counts of attempted murder, escapes a high security prison. It definitely doesn't look good," she told him.

"He somehow knew about the utility tunnels under the prison. He just needed that fancy tool you were talking about. I thought it would make more noise but it turns out the noise that was heard was the circle of concrete falling into the tunnel," Murdoch admitted. That got Kate thinking. Typically, in construction, diamond blades on walk-behind cutters were used to cut reinforced concrete. Those machines were large and loud and used water, which made her wonder if Lex had used lasers of some sort, as neither the floor nor the surroundings seemed like they'd been wet.

"Well I'd check personnel. Someone knew about these tunnels and blabbed," Kate said. She then headed out of the cell. Murdoch quickly followed her and made sure she made it out of the prison. Needless to say, both were surprised to find Kara Danvers waiting for them, leaning up against a car.

"Miss Danvers," Agent Murdoch was surprised to see her.

"Agent Murdoch," the blonde smiled.

"Well thanks for letting me take a look. I'll talk to Obsidian North and let you know what I find out," Kate told him.

"Thanks," Murdoch nodded and then headed back inside. Once he was out of earshot, Kara asked,

"You think we could take off?"

"That's not your car?" Kate was surprised.

"Well technically it's not me. It's M'gann," the Martian explained.

"Ah well that would make more sense. I think we're in the clear," Kate winked. The Martian checked for parking lot cameras and when she was comfortable they couldn't be seen, M'gann put a hand on Kate's shoulder and they left the prison.

"You were right," M'gann said as they flew toward National City.

"About what?" Kate asked.

"We found a bug," the Martian told her.


	30. Chapter 30

This time the meeting was moved to Kara's apartment. Despite her best judgement, Kelly had brought Alex with her. Kara was glad to see her sister and glad that she was feeling a little better. It would be a few more weeks before she'd be really back to her old self.

"So, you found a bug?" Lena was trying to wrap her head around everything that had been going on over the last twelve hours. She was sitting on the couch, next to Kara. On the other side of Kara was Alex. The others had borrowed chairs from the dining table and moved across from the couch.

"Yes. What we don't understand is why. As far as we can figure, it had to have been Andrea. There were no other people in the vicinity of my office out on the street and certainly no one outside this group inside my office," J'onn explained.

"She plants a bug… where was it?" Kate asked.

"It was implanted on my bookshelf. Andrea must have been using the looking at the desk as a ruse," he said.

"Ok roll with me for a minute. I'm Andrea. I've managed to get myself free of Leviathan. So, I throw my lot in with the Luthors. Not only that, but I also purposely let myself get captured and hauled off to the DEO. All so I can plant a bug?" Kate was confused.

"Let's break it down," Kara said.

"Andrea tries to kill you and we tell her that we've taken Leviathan down. She does her thing and poof disappeared," M'gann said.

"Right. J'onn has a hard time finding her, despite his abilities. Then she pops back up and tries to harm Kate," the blonde recapped.

"That has bothered me. J'onn can find anyone. How did Andrea stay hidden from him?" Nia asked.

"At first, I assumed it was because of all the mental and psychic stress he was having but if she's been hanging out with Lillian Luthor…" Kelly trailed off.

"It's possible she has something that could be potentially blocking me," J'onn frowned.

"Add that to the pile of things we need to worry about," Lena heaved a sigh.

"How does Andrea find Lillian?" Kara spoke up.

"I knew Andrea back in boarding school so it's not like she came over to our house or anything. I can't remember her ever meeting my mother but perhaps on this Earth it's different," Lena shrugged.

"Another thing to worry about. Now, I've found Lillian and she gives me a bug to plant. I'm guessing that couldn't have been enough to be basically make myself a sacrificial lamb," Kate frowned.

"Well, if the DEO were still intact, I would have said it was a ploy to get inside, but the building doesn't exist and the second location was an old, decommissioned building, nothing of importance remained in there," the blonde couldn't understand it. Alex poked her arm.

"The old location is it the one… on Avenue C?" The redhead asked. Her speech was getting better. Alex had figured out just how far out she could move her chest before it got painful.

"Yes, that's the one. You know something we don't?" J'onn wanted to know.

"After you retired, we moved… some of the older alien tech… needed to make room… or so we were told," the redhead admitted.

"And Lex would know exactly what is being housed there," M'gann shook her head.

"Since he couldn't just waltz in there, who better to get it than their very own shadow monster?" Kara frowned as she quickly stood up and headed for the window, shedding clothes as she went.

"I'll call Doctor Rodgers," Lena told them whipping out her phone. J'onn and M'gann joined the blonde and the three took off for the DEO substation. Kate went for her duffle bag.

"Can we get a ride?" Nia asked Kelly.

"We?" Kelly was confused.

"Explain on the way," Kate smiled.


	31. Chapter 31

"Supergirl, J'onn, M'gann, what's going on? Lena tried to explain but I must admit, I didn't quite understand what was going on," Doctors Rodgers said as the three arrived at the new DEO headquarters. The former decommissioned DEO station had a medical lab, but it was much smaller than the one he'd been used to using at the original headquarters and the doctor saw them enter the second-floor balcony from his spot in the lab.

"We think Lex Luthor sent Andrea to cause trouble and steal alien tech," Supergirl said as the three moved closer to the lab so they did not need to shout.

"Isn't he in jail?" Rodgers wondered.

"Not anymore. He escaped and is in the wind. My FBI contact brought me up to speed. The DEO can't get involved in looking for him, so everything stays on the up and up," Agent Smith interjected as he walked over to them. It looked like they were trying to get the computer system up and running and were struggling. That's when they noticed a certain someone helping them out at the main computer.

"Brainy? Shouldn't you be resting?" Kara asked.

"I tried. He's as bad as you guys are with that," Rodgers shook his head, which cause J'onn to smirk.

"Worry about that later. I just checked on Andrea's cell. She's still in there. We're keeping the Staff of the Shadow World near her cell, so her powers are weakened. We also have that neat lighting device nearby should we need it," Brainy spoke up. He was wearing sweats which he must have borrowed from someone. J'onn quickly brought everyone up to speed.

"Well, I could see why you would think that. We're not fully operational. In fact, all we have running are all the internal systems – security, lights, computer network. We can't get connected to the DEO's secondary mainframe, which was stored off site after the Toy Man incident," Agent Smith said.

"Where is that?" Kara wanted to know.

"A subterranean facility in Death Valley. Our problem is that now that this site was declared inactive, it was removed from the new protocols put in place for security purposes," Agent Smith told them.

"Once the computer equipment was disconnected from both mainframes, any connection from this IP address was to be noted as an intrusion and the security software would kick in," Brainy explained.

"Would backup be coming for us then?" M'gann wondered.

"Ordinarily, yes but given what happened with Lex, the DEO has been under investigation and not technically allowed to respond to any incidents, unless they involve aliens. The FBI was given access through a backdoor and they're checking DEO stations throughout the US, looking for any plans that Lex had. The outdated equipment here can't hack our way into the mainframe and it's possible that we're being blocked by the FBI," Agent Smith was obviously not happy.

"You guys need to beef up security. Dreamer and I just waltzed in downstairs," Kate's voice made them turn toward the elevator.

"There was a team down there just a few minutes ago," Agent Smith grew concerned. Brainy went to the security cameras and tried to pull up the footage, only to find it missing. Suddenly, the light went out. All DEO facilities are normally equipped with a generator, but no one had been able to get the old one running as no one had used it or tested it in the last five years. That basically meant they were running on emergency lights – one fixture every ten feet – plenty of dark for Andrea.

"Get to the prisoner!" Agent Smith shouted to anyone who could hear him. Kara took off like a shot down to where the cells were, only to find Andrea's now empty.

"J'onn, she's loose," the blonde connected to him via their comms.

"Heading to the storage room," J'onn told her. They did not get far as gunshots rang out. Kara flew down the hall and made it back to the main room, finding Kate, J'onn, and M'gann fighting intruders. Brainy and Dreamer were missing, and she guessed they headed to the storage room to try and make sure nothing got stolen.

"Batwoman, Miss Martian! Help Brainy and Dreamer!" Kara called out. Kate punched the guy in front of her and took off, M'gann was right behind her. Kara quickly helped J'onn round up the five shooters and made sure they were corralled. The DEO agents quickly got them cuffed and Agent Smith put in a call to the FBI.

Suddenly, the light came back on. Kara and J'onn quickly headed to the storage room to find three of their friends engaged in battle with two Lexosuits. Dreamer was not there, and Kara hoped that the human-Naltorian hybrid was the one who had found the power panel.

"Keep one of the suits mainframes intact!" Brainy ordered as he dodged a shot from one of the suits. Kara blasted the one shooting at the Coluan with her heat vision. The suit turned its attention to her.

The second suit took aim at M'gann and she shifted her density. As the suit missed her, she stuck her arm into it and shifted her density again. Sparks flew as she ripped a hole in the suit, and it crumpled to the ground. In her hand was the piece that Brainy was looking for.

"Rip that one apart!" She shouted to them. Kara was well on her way to doing just that. More well-timed punches and with J'onn's help, the second suit was dispatched.

"Give me the mainframe," Brainy said.

"What are you going to do with it?" M'gann asked, handing it over.

"With any luck, use it to hunt down the Luthors," he told them.

"Where is Dreamer?" Kate wanted to know, hoping their friend was safe.

"We needed the lights back on. I sent her downstairs. The lights came back up so she's probably on her way back up," Brainy said.

"She should have been back here by now and Andrea is once again in the wind," Kate shook her head.

"I want a full inventory of this room and I want to see any security footage after the lights came back up," Kara wasn't really in a position to order that, but no one was going to challenge her. Nia was missing and possibly in trouble.

"Where are the power panels? I want to look down there," Kate said.

"I'll go with you in case it's an ambush," J'onn told her.

"You think Andrea is holding her down there?" Kara looked at him.

"I doubt it, but I certainly don't want to find out the hard way," the Martian said.


	32. Chapter 32

"Damn," Kate shook her head as they entered the room where the power panels were. The room was not far from the entrance of the building, just to the right of the reception desk. The door had been removed, the hinges damaged by what appeared to be a laser – probably from one of the Lexosuits. The team that had been guarding the front door was being looked at by Doctor Rodgers and a couple of his medical team personnel.

"They quietly subdue the team down here and then destroy the door but leave the electrical panels intact?" J'onn looked around the room. No damage appeared to be done to the panels or the wiring. They had actually left the main panel open, which contained the main electrical circuits which headed to the smaller electrical panels.

"Well they didn't want to waste time. They probably didn't have an exact location for what they needed Andrea to steal. With us busy with the shooters and Lexosuits, Andrea would have time to hop, skip, and jump around to find what they were looking for. Also, flicking a few switches would have taken a lot less time than trying to saw through that three inch conduit – laser or no," Kate pointed out.

"They wanted a coordinated attack. They left one guy down here to kill the lights and the rest headed for the stairs," J'onn nodded.

"Hopefully we can confirm we don't have another bad guy running around. Of course that leads me to our next problem," Kate said.

"Why would Andrea take Nia?" The Martian frowned.

"Exactly. How does she get Nia to come with her?" The brunette wondered. They walked out of the electrical room, knowing they'd no help from the space. Given what they'd just discovered Nia's trip down to the power panels should have lasted all of two minutes. How did Andrea steal whatever Lex wanted and kidnap Nia? Kate stopped in her tracks throwing her left arm in front of J'onn, effectively stopping him in his tracks. He was not sure what she was doing.

"Supergirl, I need your ears," Batwoman said into her comms. Doctor Rodgers and his team had gotten all the injured personnel, leaving the two completely alone.

"I'm on my way," Kara promised. J'onn raised an eyebrow as the blonde arrived.

"You need my ears?" She asked.

"I don't think Nia ever left this building," Kate said.

"Andrea stuffed her in a closet?" Kara was being optimistic.

"We paced it out, Andrea didn't have time to mess around with Nia," the Gothamite told her. The blonde swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and then tried to focus her hearing, listening for muffled cries or a slower heartbeat. Once Kate and J'onn's heartbeats were filtered out, she filtered out her own, and that's when she heard it – not one but two heartbeats – one beating very fast and one seemed slow. Kara's eyes flew open and she used her x-ray vision to scour the nearby spaces. Placing a finger in front of her nose and lips, Kara quietly moved toward the room she was looking for. Kate and J'onn's followed her down the hall, further to the right of the electrical room. There was another door that behind mechanical equipment could be heard running. It was a smart cover to hide in as most people would not have heard anything but the motors of the air handling units.

Kara tried the door, not surprised to find it locked. She crushed the doorknob and gave it a little yank. The door opened and the three people entered the room and fanned out, hoping to cut off any chance of escape of their kidnapper.

"Hey there buddy. I'm going to need you to put that gun down ok?" Kara heard Kate talking to their quarry and quickly tried to pick her way over to her. The room was large but with the large equipment in there, the passageways were narrow, just wide enough for maintenance purposes. Kara saw Kate's cape near an alcove caused from ductwork and an air handling unit.

"I'm not doing that," he said. The man was dressed all in black and had a ski mask on, just like his friends did. Nia was unconscious and there were no overt signs as to why that would be. There was no blood so the Gothamite was thankful for that.

"No one needs to get hurt, including you," Kate said.

"I'm going to jail, no matter how this shakes out, unless you get me what I want," he pointed the business end of his nine millimeter handgun into Nia's side which caused her to moan. _This guy must have really whacked her over the head in order to get her back here or maybe he lured her here,_ Kate frowned internally.

"It's not going to work out for you, just put the gun down and maybe we can work something out if you rat on your boss," Supergirl announced her presence from behind Batwoman. There was now nowhere to go.

"Rat on the Luthors? How long do you suppose I'd live after that? He gave her a look.

"Protective custody can work in your favor. Just let her go and give me the gun," Kara said. He looked at Kate and then he looked at Kara. Both of them didn't like where his brain was going based on the look on his face.

"I don't think so," J'onn suddenly materialized through the air handling unit and grabbed the gun with one hand and punched the guy with the other.

"Nicely done," Kate smirked.

"How bad is she?" Kara was concerned and gently tried to wake her friend, who didn't seem to be waking up.

"Could she be in a dream state?" J'onn wondered.

"I don't know. I'll get her upstairs to Doctor Rodgers. You guys deal with him," Kara carefully scooped up Nia and headed for the door.

"You think we can get something out of him?" Kate asked.

"He'll be our only lead unless Brainy found something," J'onn said, pulling himself all the way through the air handling unit and handing the gun to her. They were about to be surprised with what Brainy had found from the Lexosuit's mainframe.


	33. Chapter 33

"What's going on with her Doctor?" Kara asked as the medical man took Nia's vitals. The Kryptonian had brought the human-Naltorian hybrid into the medical lab just a few moments ago and laid her down on the first available bed. Brainy had seen them come in and wanted to be there but he remained at his post, digging through the information he'd just found.

"She's got a nice goose egg on the back of her head. My guess is that our bad guy surprised her," Rodgers frowned. Nia's vitals were perfectly normal.

"But would that leave her unconscious for this long?" The blonde was concerned.

"No, it would not. I need to run a scan and make sure there isn't anything physical going on. If she was hit in the head, would that engage…" the man did not even get the words out as Nia suddenly sat bolt upright, completely wide awake.

"Nia!" Kara was completely surprised.

"How did I…" her friend was obviously confused.

"First, how are you feeling?" Doctor Rodgers asked.

"I have a rather nasty headache," Nia admitted.

"We think one of Lex's goons hit you on the back of the head with the butt of his gun," the blonde explained while the good Doctor went looking for an ice pack and some pain medicine.

"That would do it. I had just turned the power back on and was about to leave the room but then… I had a very weird dream," Nia told them.

"So the smack to the back of the head caused your dreaming ability to kick in?" Kara was surprised.

"I think the smack triggered something. The dream had me waking up in a strange room. Lex was there, he had me strapped to some sort of weird machine. How I got there or what it was for, I'm not entirely sure. You, J'onn, and Batwoman were fighting more Lexosuits while M'gann had Lillian cornered. The weird part was that Andrea didn't seem to be there. Brainy wasn't there either but I guess I figured that we left him behind so he didn't overdo it," she explained.

"Do you think you could describe everything to Brainy? He might be able to understand what Lex is up to and why he wanted whatever Andrea stole," her friend asked.

"First, pain medicine and the ice pack," Doctor Rodgers interrupted. He handed Nia a glass of water and some pills. She gratefully took them and quickly downed the pills with some of the water. Then they swapped the glass of water for the ice pack.

"That feels much better," Nia smiled, the ice was certainly helpful until the pain medication could kick in.

"Good. Now take it easy for at least the next thirty minutes while the medicine kicks in. If you don't start to feel better, you need to let me know," he told her.

"Will do," Nia promised. Kara helped her friend out of the bed and they headed back into the main room. There Kate, J'onn, and M'gann were waiting for them near the main computer hub.

"You ok?" Kate asked Nia.

"I'll be fine. Did Brainy find something?" She wanted to know.

"I did. The remote controlled Lexosuits have GPS chips. That way they can be tracked and their course corrected if need be. The last place this suit was before landing here at our DEO station was just outside of Metropolis," Brainy explained, now that the group was back together.

"That would make sense. It would put him near Kal," Kara frowned.

"Well it explains another thing – this was not on Lena's list because it is not listed on any of Lex's or Lillian's holdings. It's listed under Jeremiah Danvers…" Brainy didn't know how that would go over. Kara was just glad that Alex wasn't there to hear that.

"Of course it is. He must have been brainwashed here too," the blonde heaved a sigh.

"I figured as much. Supposedly it's an empty piece of property that is about ten acres but obviously a Lexosuit wouldn't come from nothing. It has to have a recharging station and storage spot," Brainy told them.

"Well then I guess we better pay this spot a visit," J'onn said.

"We have no schematics and no idea what kind of buzz saw we could be walking into," Brainy said.

"We have a long trip across the country ahead of us. There wouldn't happen to be any DEO aircraft available for us would there?" J'onn wondered. Kate and Nia couldn't fly and besides they would need to bring Lillian and Lex back to National City when they were done.

"I phoned in a favor," Brainy smiled.

"You guys need a ride?" Lena asked from behind them, making them all turn around.


	34. Chapter 34

"So Lena can fly a plane huh?" Kate asked Kara from her seat on Lena's private jet, about an hour later.

"Yes. Actually this plane is nicer than her last one," the blonde admitted. They were sitting across from each other while across the aisle M'gann was sitting across from Nia. J'onn was in the cockpit with Lena, acting as a copilot. They'd all switched back into their civilian clothes in order to avoid prying eyes at the airport.

"Last one? These aren't like cars, you don't trade them in every three years because the lease is up," Kate was surprised. While the private plane that Wayne Enterprises had, was nice, it was not new. A plane's lifespan is actually measured in pressurization cycles, not years, like cars. Basically every time an aircraft is pressurized during flight, its fuselage and wings are stressed. That stress leads metal fatigue in those parts of the plane that are connected with fasteners or rivets. This fatigue leads to cracks, which can lead to part failure. So most private jets last for twelve thousand hours, while those that are very well maintained can last for twice that time.

"Well we were dealing with trouble in Kaznia and when we got back, she didn't want to keep it," Kara explained.

"Kaznia? That must have been while I was still avoiding going home to Gotham," Kate said.

"It was and it's a long story," the blonde admitted. The Gothamite was about to point out that they had a long flight in front of them when Nia spoke up.

"So Brainy was able to finish their inventory. It looks like Andrea stole an alien power generator. It looks like it's only the size of seven inches by five inches by about five-eighths of an inch thick," the human-Naltorian hybrid said.

"That's a little larger than an external hard drive for a computer. How much power does it generate?" Kate wanted to know.

"When activated by electricity, it multiples the power output. Brainy says think of having one "D" cell battery, hooking it up to this contraption and having enough batteries to power five, four "D" battery, flashlights," Nia explained.

"A factor of twenty? How much power can this thing absorb slash multiply before it blows up?" Kara asked.

"No one knows. Brainy says that when it was acquired, the DEO did not want to find out the hard way. It was the only one they had and if they blew it up and killed people, then it would be a disaster. Research on the item was stopped when the Daxamite invasion occurred," Nia said.

"So they never bothered to pick it back up again and Lex suddenly absolutely has to have it?" M'gann didn't like where her mind was going.

"Yeah not likely. It probably got relegated to a secret side project," the blonde frowned.

"There is no way that Lex could know that Crisis was coming. Why would he relegate something like that to a secret project?" Nia wondered.

"A good point. This version of Lex was an actual good man. You would have thought he would have tried to figure out a way to turn that into a cheap energy source and reduce the needs for fossil fuels," Kara said.

"Well in all truth, the Daxamite invasion may have had the good version of Lex working on planet security plans. Perhaps the bigger question is that what was our version of Lex doing with it? He obviously found a use for this thing. The decommissioned DEO site would be a nice quiet lab that would have been off the books," M'gann pointed out.

"A good point. Does Brainy have any ideas on what Lex could be trying to use it for?" Kate asked.

"He figures the Jarhanpurians are only susceptible to their own technology and the technology of his own people the Coluans. So if he intended to rid Earth of them, he would need to be able to use their advanced technology against them. So probably he stole something other than the tube, which we relieved him of," M'gann said.

"By now he knows that we probably sent them all to the Phantom Zone, given what happened in Lena's lab. My guess is that he's creating a weapon he could use against me and Kal," Kara shook her head.

"That's the only thing that makes sense. Then of course whatever he stole from the Jarhanpurians could be used to regain his empire," Kate frowned.

"Yeah that's not good. How much longer until we land in Metropolis?" Nia wanted to know. It was a cross country flight and they would have to stop and refuel at least once.

"Two and a half hours to our refuel stop, forty-five minutes on the ground, and then three and a half hours to Metropolis. The car ride from the airport to the site is about an hour," M'gann broke it down.

"Plenty of time to plan. Have Brainy send everything he has learned so far about the property and surrounding terrain," Kara said to her friend. The Kryptonian heaved a sigh and they got to work.


End file.
